WI Bridge................................................................Center Section OpEd

COVID-19 Exposed a Nation Divided

Since COVID-19 took over the world more than two years ago, the impact on lives and the government’s response have been nothing short of conflicting. With hundreds of thousands of deaths all across the country, the demand for a government response grew louder. But it was former president Donald Trump who threw caution to the wind and set the stage for a pandemic that swept the country like wildfire and continues to inflame the attitudes of Americans today.

“We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. It’s going to be just fine,” he told Americans back in February 2020. His optimism or stubbornness to deal with the deadly problem allowed him to speak more untruths, including “It’s going to disappear. One day, it’s like a miracle; it will disappear.”

In the meantime, federal and local governments issued mandates to close non-essential businesses and require masks. At the same time, health organizations worked feverishly to create vaccines to stop the virus's spread and save lives. It appeared to be working until the virus mutated, resulting in a milder case of the Delta variant but a more contagious case of the Omicron variant.

As a result, Americans still live with mask mandates, social distancing, more vaccinations, booster shots and a growing hostile climate.

No one can adequately predict when the pandemic will be over or “disappear.” Its longevity has given rise to an aggressive movement among anti-vaxxers, anti-maskers and anti-government officials protestors who oppose efforts to keep people safe.

While the virus is more severe in adults than in children, COVID-19 is causing preventable suffering among youngsters, with about 1.9 million children ages 5 to 11 diagnosed with COVID-19, resulting in hospitalizations and deaths.

Too many children are suffering from depression, aggression and suicide. Meanwhile, parents' mean-spirited responses to COVID-19 restrictions and virulent attacks, even against teachers, exacerbate the suffering children are experiencing.

Some would have believed that a pandemic would bring people together, not tear them apart. This virus has shown just how divided the nation is, and no vaccine will fix it nor a mask that will disguise it. There’s much work to be done.

WI

TO THE EDITOR

Suicide of Regina King’s Son May Bring Critical Attention to a Rising Problem among Young Blacks

The recent news confirming the death of Ian Alexander, Jr., the only child of award-winning actor Regina King, was met with expressions of condolence throughout the entertainment industry and across social media. But the cause of his death, suicide, and his age, just 26, have only added to her grief.

The family has asked for “respectful consideration during this private time,” choosing not to elaborate on the details behind his tragic and untimely death.

However, it does underline a significant and disturbing trend among Black youth – one which reveals an increase for Black girls that stands at twice that for Black boys. Suicide now represents a devastating problem among Black youth with researchers and mental health professionals anxious to understand why and how to best address it.

In a paper published on September 8, 2021 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, researchers extracted disturbing information from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] databases. The numbers are shocking: 1,810 Blacks between the ages of five and 17 died by suicide between 2003 and 2017.

Janelle Goodwill, a psychologist and social worker at the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, while not involved in the research, said the numbers counter the long-held assumption that suicide rates among young white individuals are higher than those among young Black people.

Further, because the paper only analyzed data through 2017, it does not include figures for the COVID-19 pandemic. A CDC study published in August 2020 reported that in late June of that year, more than one quarter of young adults had contemplated suicide within the past 30 days.

Through the Editor’s Eyes

I must say every week; I thoroughly enjoy the editor’s column, “The World According to Dominic.” Last week’s “My Neighbor Murders His Wife Due to Finances, Reminding Me to Cherish Everyday Life” was no different. What a take on such a heinous act. I really felt as if I was there with you when you saw the story on the news, Mr. McNeir. I look forward to your book/writings in the future.

Danny Baldwin Washington, D.C.

Clearly, King’s son Ian needed help – help that either he never received or that no one recognized he needed.

But one thing is certain: we must find a way to reduce, if not eliminate, the stigma related to mental health treatment that has long persisted in Black communities and families. In addition, we must be willing to encourage our youth to share their concerns without fear of what or how we may feel.

Then, we must get them the professional help they need.

Collectively, we can eradicate the pernicious message of “worthlessness” that has been drummed into the heads of Black youth so that young Blacks in America will know that “their lives are full of meaning and purpose.”

That’s a message that should undergird the Black Lives Matter movement.

WI

Flying High

Rest well to Tuskegee Airmen General Charles McGee, who lived a long and fruitful life going on to glory at 102 years old. As many of our elders from the days of civil rights and Jim Crow continue to cross over to the other side, we must remember them and hold their legacy up like it’s our duty because it is.

B. Morgan Scott Silver Spring, Md.

Guest Columnist

Julianne Malveaux

The Maladjusted Madness Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

From the third Monday of January, the federal holiday commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, through the end of February, Black History Month, Dr. King will be quoted, lionized, referenced and deified by the kleptomaniacs who sample Dr. King as blatantly as hip-hop artists sample classic Motown. He will be taken out of context, a moral giant whose words are often distorted by the moral midgets who can only quote one or two lines from his "I Have A Dream" speech. As the battle around voting rights rages in the United States Senate, there are likely those who have forgotten how dedicated King was to voting rights and how often he risked his life for the right to vote.

As people celebrated Dr. King's birthday on Jan. 17, few will remember how long it took for the day to become a holiday. Thousands thronged to Washington, D.C., every cold January from King's death until Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday" song propelled the federal holiday from a concept to a reality in 1983. How many remember the warrior Congressman John Conyers, the indefatigable leader who rallied folks to advocate for a holiday, also tirelessly introducing reparations legislation every congressional session from 1989 until his 2017 retirement from the House of Representatives?

Many now view the King holiday as a day off work, not a moment of civic reflection. Some retail establishments even make a sale date out of it. On Jan. 17, the King holiday, USA Today listed "the 48 best MLK Day sales to shop right now." Turning the King holiday into the ultimate capitalistic playground captures our nation's ambivalence with King. While he struggled to free people from the predatory capitalistic bondage of the "thingification" of life, many in our country have embraced his legacy as another shopping opportunity.

As long as we embrace only the surface King, we can smooth out his edges, ignore his passionate opposition to the Vietnam war, forget his searing criticism of poverty, and turn him into a kumbaya King. King elevated the "creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority in a country that encourages conformity." He spoke of this maladjustment, often, in his speeches, about preferring to be a "drum major for justice" than a follower of consumer trends. He spoke of the "audacity," the temerity, the nerve, the sheer madness of believing that in a capitalist economy, people could eat, learn and thrive.

King's commitment to maladjustment was partly his dissatisfaction with the status quo, but some psychiatrists suggest that his embracing maladjustment may also have had to do with the several depressive episodes he had. It takes nothing from his legacy but instead elevates it when we speak of the depression that King may have experienced. He attempted suicide twice as a teen and was occasionally

Guest Columnist

Marian Wright Edelman

Remembering Robert Holland Jr.

On Dec. 22, Robert Holland Jr. passed away. Bob was a corporate groundbreaker, a marvelous fellow Spelman College Board of Trustees chair, and a wonderful role model and philanthropist who always wanted to open doors for others. He was especially dedicated to making sure more young people had the chance to follow his example and pursue their own dreams.

He grew up in Albion, Michigan, with devoted parents who were not formally educated themselves but prized education for their five children. His close-knit neighborhood also encouraged his academic success: "When grades were issued, everybody knew you were carrying a report card. I learned very, very quickly: Do not bring bad grades through the gauntlet." He wanted to study engineering, but the guidance counselor at his segregated high school suggested he apply only to trade schools. When he tried to apply to the Air Force Academy his school refused to forward his transcript. But that didn't stop him from finding a way to reach his goals. A college professor he met at a track meet encouraged him and gave him a list of universities offering engineering programs and scholarships. Bob only had enough money for two application fees, so he decided to apply to just the first and last schools on the alphabetical list: Cal Polytechnic and Union College. This was how he ended up leaving Michigan for the first time in his life to take a 26hour bus trip to Schenectady, New York, to enroll at Union. He said later, "That was not the last blind journey I would take, but the first of many." Bob quickly proved his high school's bigoted low expectations wrong by excelling at Union, where he was class president all four years, a three-letter varsity athlete, and the recipient of a special prize given annually to a senior of exemplary "conduct and character." He followed his B.S.

Guest Columnist

Roger Caldwell 2022 Will Be a Great Year for Blacks and People of Color in America

With the election of President Biden and Vice President Harris, they have quickly delivered for the American people, while helping our country recover from a pandemic, and an economic crisis. It is very easy for the Republicans to talk about what the Biden team has done wrong, but with the passing of the American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, their first year in office has been extremely successful.

These two pieces of legislation will rebuild the economy and put money in the pockets of hardworking American families. Many businesses received stipends from the government, and many Americans were able to keep their businesses in the black and afloat. The American Rescue Plan was passed in March 2021, and it provided stimulus aid for families, state, local areas and tribal nations.

Many have forgotten the $1,400 stimulus check every family got for each family member and the expanded tax credit for each child. President Biden and the Democrats delivered big for America, but everyone has appeared to have forgotten, especially the Republicans.

The economy under President Biden is doing extremely well, and the Democrats must blow their horn loud and clear. "Today, America is the only leading economy in the world where household incomes and the economy as a whole are stronger than they were before the pandemic, even accounting for price increases," says President Biden.

When Americans look at the president's Cabinet, there is a diversity of people of color, which is an accurate representation of the country. This is the first reason that in 2022 Blacks and people of color will operate and grow successfully: because the economic track record is the strongest in 50 years.

When leadership reflects people of color, America is in a better place for opportunity and progressive ideas for Black people. Whether you're looking forward to them or dreading them, the midterm elections will take place in November 2022. There will be more Blacks and people of color running for office than ever before in the history of America, and there will be more millions in circulation than ever before.

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in mechanical engineering with an MBA from Baruch College and then began his groundbreaking career in business.

Among his many trailblazing roles he was an associate and the first Black partner at the consulting firm McKinsey & Company and became the first African American CEO of a majority owned franchise company after being appointed CEO of Ben & Jerry's. During the year he was

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Guest Columnist

Gary A. Puckrein

Applying a Patient Risk Model to Drug Pricing Reform

The Biden administration and Congress have made clear the importance of investing in community well-being with passage in the House of Representatives of the Build Back Better Act and the now signed-into-law bipartisan infrastructure bill. Transportation, education, child care, broadband access, clean air and water, and affordable housing are all deemed priorities for the use of public resources.

But contrary to the administration's focus on equity issues, this act would actually deter efforts to protect underserved communities and hampers innovation critical to patients. Washington is squandering the opportunity to optimize a golden era of medical progress by supporting discriminatory drug price "negotiation" provisions. These would reduce access to stateof-the-art medicines while elevating the patient risk for hospitalizations, emergency room visits, disabilities and death. The legislation would impose an excise tax on drug companies that do not comply with the negotiation process, starting at 65% to a maximum of 95%. With the government able to name its own price by force of law on specific drugs, the market will no longer have an incentive to invest in medical breakthroughs.

Health systems should be designed to assess patients' risks for acute events like COVID-19, respiratory infections and heart attacks, devote resources to reducing that risk and improve quality of life. The Build Back Better Act restricting access to care in the name of short-term financial savings is neither good for the American people or a wise financial investment.

Politicians striving to attain or keep office can get guaranteed applause by promising to dramatically cut the cost of prescription drugs. This political drumbeat is increasingly reflected in continued policy efforts such as the Build Back Better Act that link drug prices in the U.S. to those of other nations that employ government price controls. We are not a command economy, but such legislation would give the federal government command power to control drug prices in the United States. With the power to control prescription drug prices is the power to determine investments in medical innovations. Is that what we really want; is the transference of our ability to innovate from the marketplace to the government good for America.

Indeed, the only purpose of our health care system is to conserve life by reducing patient risk. We can distort that purpose with implications for generations yet born by our failure to appreciate the investment we are making in arresting the illness that have constrained our lives, rich and poor. If we believe that short-term financial gains are more important than mit-

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Guest Columnist

Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.

Black America Salutes CEO Robert F. Smith for Accelerating Racial Equity and the Spirit of Giving

Today we are witnessing an increased spirit of giving to help underserved communities across the United States. The Black Press of America acknowledges and takes public note of both the responsibilities and the opportunities for corporate leaders to be "thy Sisters and Brothers' Keepers." Good social corporate responsibility matters.

This is particularly true in communities of color, which continue to be mired in poverty and insufficient access to transformative economic improvement opportunities. One of the key indicators of economic advancement and sustainability in today’s global marketplace is the extent to which effective community-based organizations have access to equity funding and high-tech innovations.

With 2021 behind us and preparations and commitments now being made for 2022, we are revisiting the progress accomplished by a leading African American entrepreneur and corporate leader, Robert F. Smith, who is helping to increase racial equity funding and bridge the digital divide in six southern cities where a large percentage of African Americans now reside: Atlanta, Birmingham, Memphis, Houston, New Orleans and Charlotte.

Earlier last year, we highlighted the game-changing initiative that we launched, along with PayPal CEO Dan Schulman and BCG CEO Rich Lesser, called the Southern Communities Initiative. This initiative is "a catalytic effort to coordinate and accelerate racial equity funding, programming, and convening organizations in six Southern communities that are home to approximately 50% of the African American population."

According to information recently posted on Smith’s dedicated website, we were pleased to learn that the Southern Communities Initiative already has identified, embraced and activated the following local leadership appointments and activations in those six states.

There are four racial equity pillars for the initiative: Wealth Creation — supporting Black-owned business growth and access to capital; Housing — providing access to resources that enable home ownership at fair rates and terms; Education/Workforce Development — creating advancement opportunities via formal education/skills training for minorities; and Health Equity‚ eliminating health disparities through equal access to quality,

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Askia-At-Large

Askia Muhammad Biden Haunted by Ghost of Trump

Exactly one year after Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. became the 46th president of the United States, yet another Great White Hope has begun his descent from the heavenly expectations of Black folks in this country, into the reality of increasing levels of race hatred being shown by more and more and more white people every day.

But instead charting a course to reach freedom and justice independent of the fiendish slave masters who continue to inflict punishment right up to this very moment, Black folks and their mainstream leaders simply condemn the greedy whites clinging to and trying to revive their 160-year-old "Lost Cause," never charting an independent course, and rarely challenging the neo-liberal establishment, in which Blacks have finally begun to win important positions.

The painful reality is, whenever Black folks play by the rules established by white folks, and then begin to succeed, the rules get changed, in order that the outcome always favors the white man's interests. Now the game is "Joe Biden and the Democrats will save us."

The U.S. criminal in-justice system is a classic example of this madness. Although our neighbors like "Eggy," and "Juney Boy" kill far more Black babies, children, and adults than cops (about 2,500 compared to 200 in 2020), we'll march all over the country to protest a Black killing by a white cop, but won't even help identify the perpetrators— whom we know because they live next door to us — because we don't want to snitch, even when thuggish, out-ofcontrol youth murder the innocent, the unarmed, sometimes right before our eyes.

We see the blurry pictures and the cars on the TV news and recognize the perpetrators. They are driving the $40,000 cars that some adult purchased, yet no one will come forward to get their armed and dangerous offspring off the streets.

We are justifiably contemptuous of the Mitch McConnells, and the Joseph Manchins of the world, as if they are able to force people to not vote simply by making it harder for them to vote. No matter how "fair" we might want the system to be, it never has been, and, as long as white folks are in charge of our affairs, it will never be fair to Blacks.

But if voting is all that those desir-

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