WINNER OF THREE SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS D.C. AWARDS
Climate Change Plan Page 27 Vol. 56, No. 49 • September 23-29, 2021
Bowser Expands Vaccine Mandate for Charter and Private School Teachers Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
5 A sea of white flags on the National Mall commemorate Americans who have died of coronavirus-related illnesses. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)
White Flags on National Mall Symbolize 670,000 COVID-19 Deaths James Wright WI Staff Writer A local artist has created a unique memorial in the District to honor the scores of Americans who have died from coronavirus-related illnesses. On Sept.17, Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg, a nationally-recognized visual artist based in Bethesda, Md., formally launched the “In America: Remember” exhibit that features over 670,000 small white flags placed across the lawn of the National Mall next to the Washington Monument. Dana Bash, a CNN anchor and chief political correspondent, served as the host of the ceremony which marked the opening of the new memorial site on the mall near the corner of 15th and Constitution Ave. in Northwest. Her remarks reflected the latest wave of collective grief and frustration about the impact of the pandemic. “One-in-three families in America have lost a loved one to COVID-19,” Bash said. “This field is growing larger everyday due to preventable deaths. This is the largest public
participatory exhibit on the National Mall since the AIDS quilt. Each flag represents someone who had hopes and dreams.” The coronavirus and the Spanish flu, the country’s last major pandemic, have many similarities but also bear ominous distinctions. The Associated Press [AP[, in a Sept. 20 story, said the U.S. population a century ago stood at one-third of its present number today, meaning the flu cut a bigger, more lethal swath through the country. However, AP said the COVID-19 crisis serves as a colossal tragedy given the incredible advances in scientific knowledge since then and the failure to take maximum advantage of the vaccines now available. “Big pockets of American society — and, worse, their leaders — have thrown this away,” medical historian Dr. Howard Markel of the University of Michigan said of the opportunity to vaccinate everyone eligible by now, AP reported. On the Sept. 19 edition of ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulous,” host Martha Raddatz
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Weeks into the new school year and after hundreds of COVID-19 cases reported among schoolchildren, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser recently expanded the vaccine mandate to include teachers and staff members in the District’s public charter, private and parochial schools. The vaccination deadline for teachers and staff members in those sectors, along with employees in childcare facilities regulated by the
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5 District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)
Civil Rights Attorney Christa Beverly Baker Dies at 61 Husband, Rushern L. Baker III, Says He’s Lost his ‘Best Friend’ William J. Ford WI Staff Writer When Rushern L. Baker III talks about what makes him a special person, he mentions his wife Christa Beverly Baker. Now, he must go it alone. Beverly Baker, who worked as a civil rights attorney on Capitol Hill before displaying signs of early-onset dementia in
BAKER Page 44 3 Christa Beverly Baker. (Photo courtesy Rushern L. Baker III on Twitter)
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