OPINIONS/EDITORIALS
EDITORIAL
Science Should Guide Decisions to Lift COVID-19 Restrictions, Not Public Sentiment
As the number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 finally begin to show a slight but consistent daily decline, many U.S. officials have begun to tout their plans to lift current restrictions for cities, counties and states. And while we are all anxious to remove our masks, board jet planes and cruise ships and send our children back to school, it remains imperative that we not move too quickly. Everyone has been impacted by COVID-19 as it has emerged as an equal opportunity virus. Millions of Americans have already received their first vaccination – some have even received both doses of the vaccine. However, we have not reached herd immunity. Further, let us not forget that millions have already died from the coronavirus with more deaths reported each day. One unarguable fact about a virus should not be ignored: viruses do not stop at the geographical borders of the cities, counties, nations or along the waterways in which and where we live. So, while America, under the aggressive, science-based leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration have initiated policies and procedures at a national level that have slowly helped our nation turn the corner, we are not out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot. The crisis faced by many African nations and those who live in India confirm with deadly emphasis that COVID-19 has not disappeared. It would be wonderful if we could snap our fingers or clap our hands and the world could suddenly return to life the way it was before COVID-19 disrupted our lives. But such a possibility only exists for those who live in a fantasy world. Officials in the state of Maryland have said they believe that most restrictions will be lifted as early as Memorial Day. In New York State, officials vow that they will return to business as usual by July 4. We would like to see their predictions come true. But let’s remember that this is not a game of musical chairs where speed matters for the one who seeks victory. Slow and steady remains the only way to safely win this battle. Are we racing to live or are we racing toward death? You be the judge. WI
Black Lawyers Matter Since the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012 by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain in Sanford, Florida, Attorney Benjamin Crump has become a familiar face in the national news. A renowned civil rights attorney specializing in wrongful death cases, Crump and his team of lawyers are ever-present at the side of families seeking justice, particularly for those killed by police officers, including Ahmaud Arbery, Martin Lee Anderson, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Duante Wright. Crump accepts no legal fees “until we win” according to his website. He’s successfully won verdicts and settlements of more than $30 million in personal injury cases, $87 million in wrongful death cases, and $10 million in civil rights verdicts. However, the $27 million settlement he achieved in the Floyd case didn’t overshadow the guilty verdict his team also won against former Milwaukee police officer David Chauvin accused of murdering George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes. Described by many as the “hardest working lawyer in the country,” Crump has become a legal giant among all lawyers and joins the ranks of the late Johnny Cochran and many other top Black lawyers in the nation in recent history. Crump serves as an inspiration to thousands of law school students who will graduate in the coming weeks, sit for the bar exam and embark upon their legal careers. At Howard University alone, the school of law will send off nearly 150 lawyers after hearing from Attorney Bryan Stevenson, featured in the film Just Mercy and director of the Equal Justice Initiative, who will deliver the commencement address. Stevenson helped win a U.S. Supreme Court decision that prohibits sentencing children under
TO THE EDITOR Congrats to Dr. Pines
The True Wilson High
Kudos to Dr. Darryll Pines, who has been installed as president at the University of Maryland. I am confident he will do great things! This is a big deal and we should support his efforts at the university. Go Terps!
Oh, how I would love to see Woodrow Wilson renamed to August Wilson High School. How beautiful would that be to honor one of our greatest minds, playwrights and ancestors. Let’s make it happen, council!
Rachel Morrison Washington, D.C.
18 to death or life imprisonment without parole. Planting the seeds that grow fighters for equal justice under the law comes much earlier. Two D.C. lawyers, Donald Temple and Georgetown Assistant Dean Everett Bellamy, were recently honored on Law Day by Washington Bar Association for tilling the soil. The two joined forces in 1979 to establish the Charles Hamilton Houston [CHH] Pre-Law Institute where they volunteered to teach for seven weeks and over 100 hours preparing students for law school. CHH graduates have attended more than 50 different law schools and serve in some of the nation’s most presti-
WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
Lydia Thomes Washington, D.C.
gious law firms. Houston, a Harvard law school graduate and a former dean of Howard Law School, was born in Washington, D.C. in 1895. He taught and mentored Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Through his work as special counsel for the NAACP, he helped win the historic Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, among others. Houston believed, “A lawyer is either a social engineer, or he is a parasite on society.” Law Day, celebrated annually on May 1, demonstrates how Black lawyers are changing society every day. Black lawyers matter. WI
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