“Arming Black Millennials with Information"

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75 CentsVol. 27 No. 19 May 14 – May 20, 2020

the New York “Arming Black MillennialsWith Information"

website: NewYorkBeacon.com

A fight for fair elections is underway with activists, others working on strategies to ensure registration of millions, pg3

REPUBLICANS UPPED WAR CHEST TO $20M TO COMBAT VOTING RIGHTS LAWS

Since onset Since onset

of COVID-19, of COVID-19,

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FIGHT FOR THE 2020 VOTE

President Donald Trump President Donald Trump greets Supreme Court Jus-greets Supreme Court Jus-tice Brett Kavanaugh in the tice Brett Kavanaugh in the House Chamber before deliv-House Chamber before deliv-ering his State of the Union ering his State of the Union address on February 5, 2019. address on February 5, 2019. Tom Williams/CQ Roll CallTom Williams/CQ Roll Call

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New York Beacon(USPA 011-156) serving metropolitan New York is published weekly by SmithHaj Group,Inc at 405 Lexington Avenue, 26th Floor, New York, NY 10174. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY. POSTMASTER; send address changes to The New York Beacon 405 Lexington Avenue, 26th Floor, New York, NY 10174. , Web Site: www.newyorkbeacon.com, Email: NewYorkbeacon@yahoo.com for the newspaper, Submit@newyorkbeacon.com for the web site. Subscription rate: $35.00 per year.

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America partially reopens while many are caught in the political discord

By Hamil R. Harris (TriceEdneyWire.com) –

In Greenbelt, Maryland Thomas Robinson can only wait for the day when the

barbershop where he cuts hair can re-open.

In Dayton Ohio, Michelle Trigg, doesn’t know when hair salon, beauty supply outlet and restaurant will open.

And in Los Angeles, actress Geri Allen can only work and rehearse lines on zoom because her studio and the rest of Hol-lywood is locked up.

Last month, President Don-ald Trump, flanked by a stage filled with officials, told the country at a White House brief-ing last month that by May 1 America would be reopening because, “America wants to be open, and Americans want to be open.”

But weeks after that decla-ration Trump and members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force yielded to Gover-nors across the country who are making their own decision of how and when to open.

“It has been hard on me because I have not cut hair in almost two months,” said Rob-inson, 50, who has been cutting hair since he was a 15-year-old

growing up in Huntsville Ala-bama. “We need to get back to making money but I under-stand the shut down.”

In Maryland, a lawsuit was filed in federal court in Bal-timore against Governor Ho-gan and state health officials by the coalition, “Re-Open Maryland,” to lift Hogan’s stay-at-home orders and other restrictions that included the closing of barbershops and hair salons.

Robinson said that he is also concerned about the Gov-ernor’s plan to reopen on a limited basis. “When we re-open they said that we can only have one customer at a time by appointment only but most of money comes from walk-ins.”

In Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine encountered protest-ers over the weekend who

Doctors perplexed as they watch patients who should be gasping for air, but aren’t

Newyorkbeacon.om

In hospitals around the world, doctors are shaking their heads in disbelief as

they watch Covid-19 patients who should be comatose or “seizing” from hypoxia — a lack of oxygen in the body’s tissues — check social media, chat with nurses and barely complain of discomfort while breathing.

Some have dubbed them “happy hypoxics,” a terrible misnomer for what could be a long, slow recovery — or worse.

The proper medical term is “silent hypoxia.” It happens when people are unaware they are being deprived of oxygen and are therefore showing up to the hospital in much worse health than they realize.

Typically, these patients have exper ienced some Covid-19 symptoms for two to seven days before they show up at the hospital complaining of sudden chest tightness or an inability to breathe deeply, said Dr. Richard Levitan, who’s been an emergency room phy-sician for some 30 years.

While he practices at Lit-tleton Regional Healthcare in New Hampshire, Levitan re-

cently spent almost two weeks volunteering in the emergency room of a New York City hos-pital near the epicenter of the city’s devastating outbreak.

There he watched patients come into the emergency room with blood oxygen levels as low as 50%, so low they should have been incoherent, even un-conscious. Normal blood oxy-gen saturation is between 95% and 100%, and anything below 90% is considered abnormal.

In addition, Levitan said, scans of these patients’ lungs showed signs of pneumonia so severe they should be in terrible pain as they gasp for their next breath.

“Their X-ray’s looked aw-

Georgia verifies thousands of new COVID-19 cases with black body bags skyrocketing

Newyorkbeacon.com

Georgia started the pro-cess of reopening its economy on April 24,

something Atlanta Mayor Kei-sha Lance Bottoms was firmly against. The mayor warned of more covid-19 deaths if the state opened back up too soon. It seems she was right.

On the same day that Gov. Brian Kemp lifted Georgia’s stay-at-home order for most residents, Georgia confirmed that its covid-19 death toll increased by 1,165 within 24 hours, according to figures posted by the Georgia De-partment of Health, Savannah Now reported.

Georgia’s total number of cases has increased to nearly 30,000, according to Worl-dometer.

Black people are experi-encing the highest number of covid-19 illnesses in the state, especially in Atlanta. Eighty percent of coronavirus patients hospitalized in seven Atlanta hospitals surveyed in March were Black patients, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Pre-vention (CDC) study. African Americans in Georgia are

hospitalized for covid-19 at substantially higher rates than their white counterparts, ac-cording to the CDC.

Atlanta is the second larg-est majority African-American metro area in the U.S. The Black population was 61.4 per-cent in 2000 and 54 percent in 2010 as African Americans in the city moved to the suburbs.

New infections continue to climb by the hundreds daily in metro Atlanta, Atlanta Jour-nal-Constitution reported. As of (May2), there are at least 2,850 cases of the virus in Ful-ton County, 2,051 in DeKalb, 1,829 in Gwinnett, 1,664 in Cobb, 1,379 in Hall, 720 in Clayton, 492 in Henry, 477 in Cherokee, 371 in Carroll, 324 in Douglas, 318 in Bartow, 304 in Forsyth, 198 in Newton, 191 in Rockdale and 189 in Paulding.

Nearly all patients hospitalized with Covid-19 had chronic health issues, study

Newyorkbeacon.com

Though earlier research has shown chronic con-ditions like obesity, high

blood pressure and diabetes are common risk factors for severe Covid-19, the ubiquity of serious medical conditions in these patients was striking: Only 6 percent of them had no underlying health conditions.

“The number of patients who had chronic comorbidities surprised us,” said Karina Da-vidson, a senior vice president at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, who was the paper’s senior author.

The paper, published in the Journal of the American Med-ical Association, analyzed data about 5,700 Covid-19 patients admitted between March 1 and April 4 to a dozen hospitals in New York City, Long Is-

land and Westchester County that are part of the Northwell Health system. Scientists at the Feinstein Institutes, the research arm of Northwell, used electronic health records and other demographic infor-mation to analyze the charac-teristics of the patients.

As Two-Thirds of Ameri-cans Work From Home, Pluses and Minuses Emerge

Dozens of children and teenagers got sick but sur-vived, the researchers found. Women had a clear edge: Fewer were hospitalized to begin with, and they were more likely to survive.

One in five of the hospital stays ended with the patient dying, but more than half of the patients studied were still hospitalized when the study ended. In total, 553 of the pa-tients died.

About a fifth of the pa-tients — 1,151 — were put on ventilators, and most of those — 831 — were still on the ma-chines when the study ended.

Of the other 320 intubated patients, 282 died and 38 were discharged from the hospital. Their mortality rate, 88 percent, is higher than some other early case reports, which found death rates for coronavirus patients on ventilators ranging from 50 percent to close to 70 percent. Given that the length of hospital stay for these Northwell cases was relatively short, four days on average, it’s possible that those who died were mainly patients who were so ill that they were unlikely to be helped by any treatment.

While the study provided a valuable granular look at the characteristics of an early onslaught of patients in the United States, Dr. Davidson cautioned that it was observa-tional in nature, and that there was no comparison group with which to contrast frailties or outcomes.

“We’re simply describing the patients who came in and required hospitalization,” she said. “We are not comparing them to those who were pos-itive and stayed out of the hospital, or who didn’t get infected, or to patients with any other disease.”

Actresses Cara Santana snd Geri Allen stand in front of the movie “Be The Light.” They and other entertainers are awaiting a Hollywood reopening.

Greenbelt, Md. Barber Thom-as Robinson awaiting time to officially reopen.

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Distance learning earns an ‘F’ in most poor homesMany Black students have no computers nor Internet connection at home Many teachers lack knowledge on how to integrate distance learning into school curriculum

By Frederick H. Lowe

Illinois Governor J. Robert “JB” Pritzker recently announced that remote learning for Illinois pre-K-12 students enrolled in

public and private schools will continue their studies until the end of the academic year while schools remain closed to stop or slow the spread of COVID-19.

“Following careful consideration of the science and close consultation with public health experts in Illinois and across the nation, in-person learning in schools will not resume during the 2019-2020 school year, with remote learning days to continue for all pre-k through 12 grade students,” Pritzker said.

With that announcement, Illinois joins 25 states and three U.S. territories that have either ordered or recommended that schools keep their buildings closed for the remainder of the academic year and rely on distance learning.

Distance learning has rapidly grown, ac-cording to the National Center for Education Statistics.

The Economic Policy Institute, a Washing-ton, D. C.-based think tank, recently published an article headlined “Access to the online learning amid coronavirus is far from universal, and children who are poor suffer from a digital divide. ”

EPI reported the digital divide is based on family income.

“The data from the National Center for Education Statistics’ National Assessment of Educational Progress for eighth-graders, show that full access to online learning is far from universal and that students who are poor are less likely to have access to the key tools and experiences they need to attend school online,” NAEP reported.

The numbers are very troubling.Nearly 16% of eighth graders overall, and

almost 25% of eighth graders who are poor, do not have a desktop or laptop computer at

home on which they can follow their classes, EPI reported.

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday in an article headlined “Students are in desperate need of computers amid coronavirus distance learning” black and Latino students are less likely to have the technology they need to learn digitally.

California Gov. Gavin Newsome announced this week that more than 70,000 laptops, Chromebooks and tablets have been donated to the school system by technology companies to assist in distance learning.

Poor students are defined as students who are eligible for the federal free-lunch or re-duced-price lunch program.

Before some governors ordered residents to shelter in place, students could visit branches of the public library and use those computers, which are free and connected to Internet, but now the libraries are also closed until further notice.

The Economic Policy Institute also noted that 7 percent of eighth graders who are poor do not have access at home to the Internet or hotspots, which can be expensive and essential to online learning. The National Center for Edu-cation Statistics reported that American Indian/Alaska Native, Black, and Hispanic students have lower rates of home internet access than their peers who are White and Asian.

Only a fifth of teachers considered them-selves proficient in integrating computers into classroom instruction.

“The shares of students with teachers who don’t consider themselves proficient but have received some training in applications and com-puter use is higher,” EPI reported. “Yet that still leaves nearly 24.1 percent of eighth -graders with teachers who are neither proficient in nor trained in software applications.”

Fight for the 2020 vote and the march to the ballot box

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior

Correspondent

Si n c e t h e o n s e t o f COVID-19, voter reg-istration in the United

States has decreased by a whopping 90 percent.

Additionally, more than 18 million voters have been purged off the rolls since 2016, and, with the all-important 2020 General Election on the horizon, activists, and others, are working to ensure the reg-istration of millions.

On Monday, May 4, The Transformative Justice Co-alition (TJC) and the Vot-ing Rights Alliance held a tele-townhall titled, “The Fight for the Vote 2020: Our March to the Ballot Box.”

Broadcast over Facebook Live, the presentation featured panelists who agreed that the election process would be severely hindered unless strategies are developed for more robust voter outreach and empowerment.

Panelists included National Newspaper Publishers Asso-ciation (NNPA) President and CEO, Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., TJC Founder, and President Barbara R. Arnwine, Esq., Moms Rising CEO Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, and Vote.org CEO Andrea Hailey.

“A person without a vote is a person without protection,” stated Attorney Daryl D. Jones, TJC’s Board Chair, who served as a moderator.

The panelists tackled robust voter outreach and registration strategies, media, and spe-cialized outreach to purged voters and those on inactive

lists, creating voter contact systems, onerous absentee ballot requirements, and voter identification.

“The struggle for voting rights continues in America even amidst the pandemic the struggle for the most funda-mental right, the right to vote, continues,” Chavis stated.

“We have to be concerned that while we sit here tonight, there are tactics, strategies, and efforts afloat in too many of these states to suppress the vote and to make people fearful of voting such was the

Shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia is defined as a “Modern day lynching”

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire

Contributor

Months after the U.S. House passed a new lynching law, which

has been held up by the Re-publican led U.S. Senate, and a day after investigative journalist Ida B. Wells was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize — a lynching story dated February 23, 2020 is in the news.

The shooting death of Ah-maud Arbery, 25, went viral on social media on May 6, months after his murder. The video shows Arbery jogging down a street in Brunswick, Georgia. It appears to demonstrate the in-volvement of three men — two on a pickup truck and another filming the scene from behind.

Arbery’s death took place on February 23rd about three miles from where he lived. Arbery was an avid jogger and played football.

The two men on the pick-up truck have been identi-fied through numerous media reports as Greg McMichael, a retired investigator in the Brunswick District Attorney’s office, and his son Travis Mc-Michael. They appear to follow Arbery from behind as he is jogging down a suburban street. Travis McMichael, the alleged shooter, is seen confronting Arbery and part of a struggle ensues in and outside of the camera’s range. The sound of shotgun fire is heard. Arbery is then seen on video collapsing after the sound of the gunshot in front of the truck.

Brunswick District Attorney Jackie Johnson recused herself because one of the men seen in the video of the fatal shooting pointing a gun at Arbery worked in the district attorney’s office.

During an exclusive inter-view on Roland Martin Unfil-tered on May 7th with Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones confirmed there was no sup-port of her from anyone in the small Georgia community after her son died. That is chang-ing. Since the viral video has been widely seen everyone from LeBron James to former Vice President Biden and President Trump has commented on Ar-bery’s death.

“Initially I was told there was a burglary and a struggle over a firearm,” Cooper-Jones said on Roland Martin Unfil-tered. She confirmed she has not watched the video of her son’s death but the description of it from others did not line up with what authorities told her after her son died.

“I need to get these men in-dicted. They need to go to jail. Two months has been too long,” said Jones on Martin’s show answering a question from Dr. Gregg Carr, the Chairman of the African American Studies De-partment at Howard University.

Late on May 7, Greg and

Travis McMichael were finally arrested. Many observers of the breaking news warned that the exotic charges and where any future court case is likely to take place matters.

The Congressional Black Caucus had demanded arrests the day before and released a statement that in part read, “the killing of Ahmaud Arbery shows us that the spirit of lynch-ing is still alive and well in our nation and something that we cannot tolerate.”

“The scary thing for me is the they thought the video would help his client. The cul-ture is so backwards down there they actually thought that,” said Arbery family attorney Lee Merritt on Roland Martin Unfil-tered. The case has widely been compared to the 2012 murder of Trayvon Martin in Florida by George Zimmerman.

“What happened to #Ah-maudArbery is a MODERN DAY LYNCHING. This Feb-ruary, the House overwhelm-ingly passed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which would make lynching a federal crime,” wrote Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL)

South Carolina Republican U.S. Senator Tim Scott wrote, “ Every.single.time. The excus-es pour in – ‘he looked suspi-cious’… ‘we thought he was committing a crime”…The fact remains, #AhmaudArbery was hunted down from a pickup truck and murdered in cold blood. My heart breaks for his family, and justice must be served.”

Likely Democratic presi-dential nominee Joe Biden said, Arbery was “shot down in cold blood,” and his killing reflected a “rising pandemic of hate.”

“AhmaudArbery should still be alive right now. This is tragic and unacceptable. It should ignite us all in demands for jus-tice. I’m calling on the Depart-ment of Justice to investigate. We need justice for Ahmaud and his family,” wrote Sen. Cory Booker on twitter.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist for NNPA and the host of the pod-cast BURKEFILE. She is also a political strategist as Prin-cipal of Win Digital Media LLC. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke

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Black teens risk COVID-19 infection over new Air Jordan Sneakers

Newyorkbeacon.com

A troubling video recently posted on social me-dia shows around 300

teenagers in Chicago stand-ing in line, neglecting social distancing orders amidst the coronavirus pandemic. All of this just to get their hands on a pair of the newly released Air Jordan sneakers.

Hundreds of teens report-edly came rushing to the area minutes after a popular sneaker reseller announced the selling of the Jordan sneakers at a Chicago storefront.

In the video taken by an-other man who went to the store

when he learned about the com-motion, the teens can be seen not practicing social distancing and not even wearing masks.

Many people have ex-pressed their concern about how the teens risked getting infected with coronavirus for a non-essential purchase.

Chicago, same as the whole of Illinois and the rest of the United States, is currently under a quarantine lockdown. Non-essential businesses, such as sneakers stores, should have been closed to prevent the spread of the virus. However, some people still ignore the mandate and go to “secret” stores that are open.

Second Massachusetts Walmart closes behind coronavirus cases among employees

Newyorkbeacon.com

A Walmart in Quincy, Massachusetts, closed after a cluster of coro-

navirus cases was identified among employees, according to Quincy Commissioner of Health Ruth Jones.

One employee from that location has died, Jones said. It is unclear how many em-ployees have tested positive at the store.

The Quincy store is the second Walmart in the state to close because of the virus in as many weeks and one of at least three locations where an employee has died.

Farmers are still waiting for $19 billion in coronavirus aid

Last week, 81 store associ-ates and employees associated with the Walmart in Worces-ter tested positive and the city

ordered the store to close. That store is expected to reopen Tuesday, a Walmart spokesper-son told CNN Monday night.

Jones said complaints from employees and customers last week led to an investigation into the Quincy store.

“I have had inspectors there every day last week due to complaints from employees and patrons concerning over-crowding and lack of social distancing,” Jones said. “Em-ployees were also concerned that coworkers may be ill. I had been monitoring the number of cases in employees and was concerned with the increase in numbers and the death of an employee, suggesting they test all of the employees,”

The store in Quincy volun-tarily closed Monday and the entire facility will be cleaned and disinfected, Jones said.

Two men arrested for the murder of a Black jogger

By Frederick Lowe(TriceEdneyWire.

com) –

The Georgia Bureau of investigation, on May 7, arrested a father and son,

charging them with the murder of a black jogger more than three months after the deadly shooting, but only two days af-ter a cellphone video surfaced that sparked national outrage and demands for justice.

Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, were charged with murder and aggravated assault for the February 23 deadly shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, 25, as he jogged through the Satil-la Shores neighborhood of Brunswick, Georgia, according to the GBI. The McMichaels were booked into the Glynn County Jail.

Arbery, who would have celebrated his 26th birthday Friday, was out for a run when Gregory McMichael,64, a re-tired Glynn County cop, and now an investigator for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit district attorney, and his son, Travis McMichael, 34, and another man only identified as “Roddy” chased down Arbery in their pickup truck before confronting and killing him.

The elder McMichael claims Arbery had been bur-glarizing houses in the neigh-borhood and that’s why they chased him down. Gregory McMichael was armed with

a .357 Magnum revolver and Travis was armed with a shot gun. It is not known what type of weapon, if any, Roddy carried.

When the men caught up with Arbery, the video, which appears to have been shot from inside a vehicle, shows he jogged around the truck. Travis, however, got out of the vehicle, struggled with Arbery over the rifle before Travis shot him twice, killing him.

Police refused to charge the McMichael’s for Arberry’s murder, arguing that Travis Michael shot him self defense. The police did not say anything about Arberry having the right

to defend himself from two men with guns accosting him.

Police arrested the McMi-chaels following the release of a video on Tuesday.

Alan Tucker, an attorney and friend of the two men, said he released the video to clear up any misconceptions about what had happened.

The v ideo , however, alarmed elected officials, in-cluding Joe Biden, the pre-sumptive Democratic nominee for president, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. Othesr said Arbery had been lynched.

The politicians demanded that police arrest of the Mc-Michaels

The case is being investi-gated through a partnership between District Attorney Tom Durden, the district attorney in Hinesville, Liberty County, Georgia, and the GBI. The GBI is also investigating the public release of the video that shows Arbery’s murder.

Gregory and Travis McMi-chael

want him to lift the state’s ban on businesses and schools opening. There were similar protests in Michigan, Virginia and Presidential battle ground states.

But DeWine, a Republican lawmaker, said during a press conference that it is not fair for protesters, fueled by Pres-ident Trump and conservative pundits, to insert politics at a time he has instituted some measures designed to protect people against COVID19..

Trigg, a college admin-istrative assistant who lives in Dayton, said she supports the Governor’s move but his decisions are not easy to live with. “I miss the hair supply, the beauty salons and the restaurants where you can

sit down, but I have lost 12 pounds because I have been cooking instead of going to the carry-out.

In California, Governor Gavin Newsome told reporters that he was easing restrictions in some areas but change will come in stages. “to make sure we’re prepared for this next phase as we begin to modify the stay-at-home order.”

But Newsome’s words were little consolation to Allen who has been working full-time as an actress for more than a decade.

“The studios are closed and for me that means no auditions or call backs and no roles,” said Allen who has appeared on commercials and films. “ Right now its time to practice using zoom, exercise and do some writing.”

There is also much change for Wanda Parker, an elemen-tary school special education teacher in Pensacola Florida. “With my students it is more than having them watching Google hangout at home. I have to write five different plans because my students are different.”

But what concerns Parker most of all is not her work but the conduct of many people who she’s flocking today the beach and ignoring any re-strictions or social distancing because in Florida some orders were never in place.

“Many of our churches never closed. In Louisiana they had to enforce the rules be-cause more than 2,000 people showed up. I think there needs to be one uniformed standard for everybody.”

America partially reopens while many are caught in the political discord

From page 2

ful, their oxygen was terrible, and yet they’re completely awake, alert on a cell phone, and they all said is they’ve been somewhat sick for days,”

he said.“And then only recently did

they notice either shortness of breath or fatigue or something else,” Levitan added. “That’s what is so fascinating about this disease and also so terri-

ble.”It’s terrible because by the

time a person realizes they are having trouble taking a deep breath and reaches out for help, they are already dangerously sick.

Doctors perplexed as they watch patients who should be gasping for air, but aren’t

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6 EditorialCOVID-19 and America–The Fire This Time

By Dr. Wilmer J. Leon, III(TriceEdneyWire.com) –

Time catches up with king-doms and crushes them, gets its teeth into doctrines

and rends them; time reveals the foundations on which any king-dom rests, and eats at those foun-dations, and it destroys doctrines by proving them to be untrue. - James Baldwin “Down At The Cross”, 1963

The foundation of “America” and its “greatness” was built upon

some interesting principles or pre-cepts; “manifest destiny”, “Amer-ican exceptionalism”, “White man’s burden” and “American internationalism” to name a few. They have become the foundation and rationalization for a belief system. The basic tenet of that belief system is that the develop-ment and expansion of American empire was inevitable if not di-vine. Former President Reagan called America, “the shining city upon a hill”. Undergirding this is the cooptation of Christianity and the sickness known as “white supremacy”.

As children, Americans are indoctrinated into the mythology of America. We pledge allegiance to “…one Nation under God, in-divisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Baldwin dispelled that myth “…the country is celebrating one hundred years of freedom one hundred years too soon.” Jack “Jackie” Roosevelt Robinson told us long before “Kap” took a knee, “I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag; I know that I am a black man in a white world.”

Former Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) told us that “The United

States is safer and more prosper-ous in a more democratic world and should take the lead in advanc-ing this cause.” The problem with his logic is that you can neither foster nor promote democracy by causing innocent people to suffer through sanctioning their coun-tries or through the barrel of a gun.

America can’t bring democ-racy to Venezuela by supporting coups to overthrow democratically elected presidents, Chavez’ and Maduro. America cannot bring democracy to Boliva, Brazil and Honduras by supporting undem-ocratic right-wing governments that repress, threaten and jail their socialist opponents. This is not democracy, this is hypocrisy.

America cannot advance de-mocracy around the world when it weaponizes the cause of the cur-rent global pandemic, COVID-19. How can a country that weaponiz-es a global pandemic be seen as a “shining city upon a hill”? It is im-moral if not criminal for the U.S. to increase sanctions through its “maximum pressure campaigns” against Venezuela, Iran, Cuba and Palestine. America’s maximum pressure is negatively impacting the flow of food, PPE, medicine

and other supplies into these countries, making it exponentially more difficult for their govern-ments to fight the pandemic.

As U.S. allies in Latin America are struggling to fight the novel coronavirus with limited financial and human resources, the U.S. is pressuring them to expel Cuban doctors. At the “request” of Donald Trump, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has removed more than 8,000 Cuban doctors and other health professionals from Brazil. Ecuadoran President Lenín More-no has sent 400 doctors back to Cuba. Bolivia has sent 700 doctors back to Cuba after the US forced the resignation of socialist Presi-dent Evo Morales in November. The health agreement between Cuba and El Salvador has also been cancelled at Trump’s “request”. Even though the US did not intro-duce the COVID-19 contagion into these countries, weaponizing it for political purposes to bring about regime change is the same as germ warfare and should be considered a crime against humanity.

America claims to be sanc-tioning these countries and others in the name of freedom, de-mocracy and the American way.

The families being destroyed by COVID-19 because the U.S. is applying it’s “maximum pressure campaign” on their governments for their “liberty” must, as Dr. King said, “… see Americans as strange liberators.”

The science to date tells us that this pandemic was detected in China in late 2019. Chinese health authorities warned the WHO of the pandemic on January 7, 2020. It hit Europe before the CDC con-firmed the first case in the US on January 20, 2020. The Trump ad-ministration ignored the warnings. Trump largely disbanded the Glob-al Health Security and Biodefense unit in the NSC in May 2018. This made it more difficult for the US to mount a coherent response. Trump can’t get out of his own way to solve this problem and Republicans in Congress are afraid to challenge him. Party allegiance “trumps” loyalty to the American people. All Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) can focus on is approving the next wave of conservative judges. Meanwhile, COVID-19 is exposing that the political system is broken.

Stop excluding people of color in environmental policies

By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. NNPA Newswire

Protecting the environment should be about protecting people, regardless of the

color of their skin, their ethnicity or race, where they live or how much money they make. The fight to save our planet should be about ensuring a long and successful sustainable future–for everyone.

The deadly des t ruc t ion wrought by the coronavirus pan-demic has laid bare the harsh inequities in American society, disproportionately ravaging Black America and other communities of color, as well as individuals who were on the social margins long before the crisis.

The inequities have surfaced in obvious ways, including early data released by states showing that the virus is killing African Americans at disproportionately high rates, a disturbing trend that illustrates the substandard availability of health care in Black America.

The inequities have also sur-faced in subtle ways, such as policy decisions that fail to reflect the needs and day-to-day realities

of low-income communities and communities of color. The irony is that many of these policies are well-meaning. But in some cases, they also have had troubling unin-tended consequences.

Consider the area of envi-ronmental policy. Protecting the environment should be about protecting people, regardless of the color of their skin, ethnicity or race, or where they live or how much money they make. The fight to save our planet should be about ensuring a long and successful sustainable future–for everyone.

Yet, there are many in the main-stream environmental movement who continuously overlook the needs and realities faced by some of our most underserved and vul-nerable communities. That includes the mainstream environmental advocacy community’s push to enforce plastic bags bans in favor of reusables, despite the fact that cardboard paper and other reusables pose a clear public health risk–espe-cially for workers on the front lines of the pandemic response.

Why, for example, is it smart public policy to insist that grocery workers be exposed to reusable bags, when research shows these bags can be repositories of the COVID-19 virus? The majority of these essential workers are low-in-come people of color who are dis-proportionately bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 crisis, dying from the deadly disease at twice the rate of white people.

Additionally, in New York, it is well-documented that a state-wide plastic bag ban also dis-proportionately hurts Black and Latino-owned businesses and shoppers. Though there is an ex-

emption in this ban for recipients of benefits like WIC and food stamps from paying the five-cent tax on paper bags, working-class people of color and low-income New Yorkers still must pay.

S o m e s t o r e s h a v e been charging for both plastic and paper, and in some cases, more than five cents a bag. Five cents might not seem like much. But five cents (or more) per bag adds up, especially when one is living paycheck-to-paycheck, or, as is more likely at this moment, not working at all due to the financial toll of the COVID-19 crisis.

Some environmentalists have argued that opponents of the bag ban are trying to capitalize on the COVID-19 crisis by recom-mending a suspension of any bag regulations. Again, it appears that some mainstream environmen-talists only use research data to support policies that reflect their privileged vantage point without respect to the impact of those policies on the underprivileged.

I coined the term environmen-tal racism in 1982 while involved in the Warren County, NC protests against the digging of a PCB land-fill in the heart of a poor Black ag-ricultural community. At that time there were some who thought that environmental issues were should not be considered as civil rights or as racial justice issues. There was in the past, and it continues in the current public discourse, a kind of arrogance by the privileged who think they know what is best for the underprivileged.

Today as the environmental justice movement has grown into a global campaign for change led by grassroots activists and leaders

from people of color communities throughout the world, we all now know much more about the inter-section between the issues of racial justice and environmental justice.

I recall vividly back in the late 1980’s when I co-authored and published the landmark study for the United Church of Christ Com-mission for Racial Justice: Toxic Waste and Race in the United States, the established environ-mental movement was unnerved that people of color would dare to do empirical research and define our own reality with respect to exposures to environmental haz-ards. Our national study proved that there was a deliberate link between race and the placement of toxic waste facilities in America.

In adherence to a blind de-votion to a privileged ideology, some who call themselves envi-ronmentalists often neglect to take into consideration the day-to-day concerns of millions of low-in-come and Americans of color living in urban centers that are also communities that house hazardous sanitation sites, incinerators, rail yards, power plants and other environmental threats.

Some mainstream environ-mental groups consistently insist on pushing for policies that make life harder for people of color and poor communities, arguing that the hardship–if they recognize it at all–is a necessary price to pay in order to achieve their overall goals that those of privilege have exclu-sively envisioned as the standard for all others to obey.

As the pandemic continues, we need to let go of high-mind-ed ideological arguments and do everything possible to pro-

tect workers on the front lines–including grocery clerks and those who make deliveries. Some states have temporarily lifted their bans or eradicated them altogeth-er. A number of grocery stores are bringing back plastic bags and telling customers not to bring their own reusable bags.

Due to the crisis, New York has twice extended non-enforcement of its plastic bag ban in the face of a lawsuit that challenges its con-stitutionality. This is not enough. The state should give essential workers and shoppers alike a sense of protection during the pandemic and bag the plastic ban altogether.

More often than not, these life-changing decisions are being made without the consultation or input from the affected communities of color. Close to 40 years later we still remain on the outside of these conversations, continuously over-looked by many in the mainstream environmental movement as well as in local and state governments.

There is an obvious divide between the members of the mainstream environmentalism movement and the environmental justice community, primarily made up of urban Black and brown people. Until both parties can come together and pay the nec-essary attention to the pervasive environmental concerns that our communities endure on a daily basis the rift will only deepen, if not completely fracture. Exclusion of people of color will not solve the nation’s or the world’s envi-ronmental challenges.

Dr. Benjamin Chavis is pres-ident and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Associ-ation.

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African American banks make sure minority businesses receive stimulus funds

Newyorkbeacon.com

African American-owned banks are helping small businesses owned by

minorities receive a share of funds from the Paycheck Pro-tection Program.

According to We Buy Black, an online market for black-owned products, OneUnited Bank announced the launch of its Small Busi-ness Administration’s PPP. The program is offering PPP loans to new and existing customers across the country through its online and mobile banking platform.

After many African Ameri-can and female business own-ers complained of being left out of the first round of funds allocated to the PPP, $30 bil-lion in stimulus funds has been allocated to Minority Deposi-tory Institutions and Commu-nity Development Financial Institutions.

“Most of our custom-ers who filed PPP applica-tions with other institutions during the first round were

not funded,” said Teri Wil-liams, president and COO of OneUnited Bank, the largest African American-owned bank in the country. “We’re proud that OneUnited can step up to provide black businesses with better access to stimulus funding.

However, OneUnited is not the only black-owned bank working to make sure black business owners get their share. Industrial Bank in Washington, Citizen’s Trust Bank in Atlanta, Unity Na-tional Bank in Houston, all ranked on the BE 100s Banks list, and others, are all active in securing funds for African American businesses.

For African American busi-ness owners, this is also a way to ensure that the bank they’re using is dedicated to ensuring they receive PPP funds.

According to the Brookings Institute, a decade of business ownership gains by African American-owned businesses since the 2008 recession is now in jeopardy due to the corona-virus pandemic.

Facebook awards Black Press of America publishers $1.3 Million in relief grants

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior

Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

Facebook has announced that 15 member publish-ers of the National News-

paper Publishers Association (NNPA) will receive $1.288 million in grants through the Facebook Journalism Project’s relief fund for local news.

The social media giant said more than 200 news organiza-tions would receive nearly $16 million in grants, which stem from $25 million in local news relief funding announced in March as part of Facebook’s $100 million global invest-ment in the news.

The grants include $10.3 million awarded to 144 U.S local newsrooms as part of the COVID-19 Local News Relief Fund Grant Program.

The fund is supporting many publishers who are hard-est hit by this crisis, with nearly 80 percent of recipients being family- or independent-ly-owned and more than half are published by or for com-munities of color.

The grants also include $5.4 million awarded to 59 North American newsrooms that participated in Facebook Local News Accelerator programs focused on subscriptions and memberships.

Facebook said the re-maining funds would be used throughout 2020 to support projects focused on lon-ger-term sustainability in local journalism.

That includes $2.5 mil-lion for Report for America,

helping the group place 225 journalists in 160 local news organizations for their 2020 reporting corps.

Partnering with lead-ing industry organizations like The Local Media Associ-ation (LMA) and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism to move quickly, the Facebook Journalism Project has award-ed more than 600 grants across the U.S and Canada since the pandemic began, Facebook stated in a news release. Ad-ditional grant programs have been launched to support jour-nalism around the world.

The NNPA is a trade organi-zation that represents the Black Press of America. The fol-lowing are among the NNPA member publications included in the latest round of Facebook grants:

A. Focus Newspaper, In-g l ewood , CA — Gran t Amount: $60,195

Los Angeles Wave & Independent Newspaper Group, Los Angeles, CA — Grant Amount: $100,000

The Los Angeles Senti-nel Los Angeles, CA — Grant Amount: $80,000

The Weekly Challenger Newspaper Spring Hill, FL — Grant Amount: $100,000

Voice News Network, Inc. / The Atlanta Voice, Atlanta, GA — Grant Amount: $100,000

Chicago Crusader News-paper, Chicago, IL — Grant Amount: $30,000

T h e A F R O N e w s p a -pers, Baltimore, MD —Grant Amount: $100,000

Real Times Media, Detroit, MI — Publications include: re-altimesmedia.com, atlanta-

dailyworld.com, chicagode-fender.com, michiganchron-icle.com, newpittsburghcou-rier.com — Grant Amount: $100,000

Louis American, St. Lou-is, MO — Grant Amount: $97,305

New York Amsterdam News, New York, NY — Grant Amount: $96,101

Philadelphia Tribune, Phil-adelphia, PA — Grant Amount: $75,000

The New Tri-State Defend-er, Memphis, TN — Grant Amount: $50,000

Forward Times Publishing Company – Houston Forward Times, Houston, TX — Grant Amount: $100,000

Richmond Free Press, Rich-mond, VA — Grant Amount $100,000

Houston Defender Newspa-per Inc.,Houston, TX — Grant Amount: $100,000

The Washington Inform-er, Washington, DC — Grant Amount: $100,000

“As the country faced a pandemic like none other and reported by The Washington Informer, we also realized our fate rested in our ability to continue to tell the story of the Black COVID experience while advertising revenues disappeared,” Rolark Barnes stated.

“The Facebook grant will assist us greatly in reaching and serving our Memphis readers and enhance our digital presence,” Anderson stated.

Farmers still waiting for $19B coronavirus aid

Newyorkbeacon.com

By the time the US De-partment of Agriculture announced a $19 bil-

lion aid package on April 17, farmers were already dumping milk and destroying fresh pro-duce as demand from restau-rants evaporated.

It could be weeks longer before any of the money, most of which was appropriated by Congress in March as part of its $2.2 trillion economic stimulus package, gets to the farmers who need it.

A sign-up system for $16 billion in payments isn’t ex-pected to be up and running until the end of May. The remaining $3 billion will be used to purchase food and deliver it to food banks, which

the agency says may begin in about two weeks.

“USDA is working as quick-ly as possible to implement the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program,” a spokesperson said in an email to CNN.

The delay worries Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nicole Fried, a Democrat who’s elected to her position. A report from her department projected that Florida fruit and vegetable growers lost $522 million through mid-April.

“I fear that by the time these purchases move forward it will be too late in the season for many of our producers to participate with so much of their harvests already lost,” Fried wrote in a letter she sent to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on April 20.

This restaurant found a way to practice social distancing

Newyorkbeacon.com

Missing restaurants while social distanc-ing? You are not

alone. One restaurant in the Netherlands, though, has found a solution.

Mediamat ic ETEN, a restaurant in Amsterdam, is offering a four-course vegetar-ian menu for diners — served to guests while they sit in their own personal quarantine greenhouses.

Right now, the trial service is only being offered to family and friends of staff, and all upcoming reservations are sold out, according to the restau-rant’s website.

A group of friends have dinner in so-called quarantine greenhouses in Amsterdam, on May 5, 2020 as the coun-try fights against the spread of the COVID-19, the novel coronavirus.

Still, as many places be-gin to loosen restrictions on social distancing, this type

of greenhouse dining could take off.

“It’s super cozy, it’s really cozy, it’s nice and the food is delicious,” diner Janita Ver-meulen told Reuters.

Waiters wear gloves and face shields to alleviate any risk of infections, the restau-rant confirmed to CNN. They also use long boards to bring

dishes into the greenhouses to diners.

Meanwhile, in the US, more than half the states are starting to reopen.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention re-leased detailed instructions for restaurants planning on reopening, including the use of disposable menus.

A waitress wearing a protective face shield arrives to serve wine to friends having dinner in so-called quarantine greenhouses in Amsterdam, on May 5, 2020 as the country fights against the spread of the COVID-19, the novel coronavirus.

The black press is more rele-vant than ever

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COVID-19 initiatives from New York State Assemblyman Walter MosleyAs we enter week eight of the COVID-19

pandemic and economic shutdown, our city and state has been challenged in ways

it has never been tested. The road ahead remains uncertain. With our essential workers, frontline personnel, and first responders still at risk, we can-not say thank you enough for what these women and men, along with their families, have sacrificed. Along with union labor, I cannot imagine where we would be as a city or state without their courage and professionalism during these trying times.

As we continue to expand upon our testing, tracing, and treatment protocols statewide — it is equally important that we also recognize the sec-ondary wave of important issues that are impacting our communities throughout our city and state. From the immediate need for rental assistance, to added social services, the secondary wave from this pandemic and how it will impact all of us will depend on two upcoming budget related matters.

The next federal stimulus package will have a significant impact on our state. From our state’s current budget, to our local municipalities — the impact will be directly linked to what changes we make to our state budget and possible cuts that might be imposed going forward. Billions of dollars are at stake. As such, services and programs New Yorkers have come to expect will be deter-mined in the coming days. Congress will look to provide a formula within the next federal package to be proportional to the number of infections per state. If that funding formula is implemented, we can anticipate that New York will get its fair share in federal aid.

There is no denying that we need to do more when it comes to our most vulnerable populations like our seniors, the incarcerated, and our NYCHA residents. The will to do better can only be outdone by what we actually do for our fellow New Yorkers on a daily basis.

From adding more testing sites, to providing the necessary mental healthcare services, we have to do more and expect more from less.

As such, here are some important contact in-formation hotlines:

Find a Local Testing Site: 888-364-3065Paid Sick Leave Benefits: 855-491-2667Tablet Hotline for NYC Seniors: Call 311Census Phone Survey: 884-330-2020Likewise, we have been able to secure a new

procedure to resolving State Department of Labor complaints for current and new unemployment applicants.

Last, but certainly not least, the matter of secu-rity as we look ahead cannot be taken lightly nor for granted. Whether its food security or housing instability, as legislators we must continue to pro-pose and pass public policy that meets the demands of some of our most pressing needs. From the beginning of this economic shutdown my office knew the instability in our housing stock would

be at risk. Likewise, with the June 20th deadline for the end of the current eviction moratorium quickly approaching and fewer families being able to pay their rent, it is imperative that we work on and introduce legislation to address this ongoing housing problem.

With tenants across our state struggling and in need of immediate relief from their financial hardships, my office along with state agencies and housing advocates, sought to provide immediate relief by forgiving outstanding rent at the end of the eviction moratorium.

It is clear that to remain good stewards of the people and the state we must navigate these eco-nomic waters with caution. In doing so we must put the needs of the people first, understanding that the financial hardships and burdens are widespread and felt throughout the state — from local tenants, undocumented residents, and owner occupied res-idents — we must work together to discuss these collective needs if we are to come back from the burdens of this pandemic.

That’s why I have authored and introduced legislation to prohibit the rent guidelines board from increasing rents during a state disaster and a COVID-19 relief tax credit to renters and individ-ual residential rental property owners with annual incomes between $25,000 and $75,000.

Even in the midst of apparent despair, our work as legislators in our districts or in Albany can never be far apart. Likewise, as neighbors and as a community we can’t ever be too far apart from one another. Even during this dark period in our state’s history, the light that comes from our goodness and our deeds will always prevail.

As always, my office is here to help you. If you have any questions about the information contained in this email or questions on any other matters, please let us know.

HealthFrom page 2

Subscribe to the New York Beacon 405 Lexington Avenue, 26th Floor, New York,

NY 10174. $35.00 per year 212-213-8585 www.newyorkbeacon.com

Assemblymember Walter T. Mosley

case 50 years ago,” Chavis continued.

“We had to overcome those tactics of voter suppression, and we have to do it now,” he added.

No excuses, and no barriers should be in place for mail-in ballots, Arnwine stated.

“Vote by mail works for White people, but it doesn’t for a whole lot of people of color,” she stated, adding that there were 1.3 million ballots mailed in Wisconsin, but 197,000 were not counted for various reasons, including the lack of postage stamps.

“In some of these states, they have this evil match law where if they don’t think your signature matches, they will not count your vote,” Arnwine said. “We have to be clear, you have to not only have vote-by-mail options and absentee balloting, but you have to have on-site, distances, and personal protective equipment for work-ers and voters.”

Rowe-Finkbeiner added that Moms Rising has more than 1 million members spread out across all 50 states.

She said mothers are high targets of voter suppression.

“You change your name, and you get pushed off the rolls,” Rowe-Finkbeiner stat-ed. “You have to check your status and make sure you have at least five friends ready to vote. The situation has never been more urgent.”

Hailey stated that Vote.org had team members working as late as 3 a.m. during recent primaries to monitor last-minute rule changes that affected voters.

“Confusion itself can be a voter suppression tactic, so we’re trying to cut through all of that noise to make sure there’s no confusion,” Hailey noted.

“We see it as our job to monitor this and to work with state and local officials to have an understanding of what the voter experience is going to look like. Every state should have no-excuse absentee vot-ing. You should be able to have at least 20 days of early voting so that you don’t have these long lines like you saw in Wisconsin. People should not have to choose between their health and their ability to cast a ballot,” Hailey said.

Fight for the 2020 vote and the march to the ballot box

From page 3

Americans have been told that its health care system is the best in the world. People come from all over the world to avail themselves of its wonders and cures. That’s only true, if one can afford them. COVID-19 has exposed the fact that most Americans, even with health insurance, will be saddled with serious medical bills. Accord-ing to Business Insider, “the total average charge per COVID-19 patient requiring an inpatient stay (6 days) is $73,300 and the total average estimated allowed amount per commercially insured patient is $38,221.”

There are 27 million Ameri-cans without insurance. Yet, dem-ocratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said he would veto a “Medi-care For All” bill if it crossed his desk as president. COVID-19 is exposing that our political process is broken.

The CDC cannot produce a trustworthy COVID-19 testing kit, so the US government cannot test enough Americans to clearly understand the size of the problem. South Korea has identified 29 Korean manufacturers and ex-porters specializing in COVID-19 diagnostic devices and developed a robust testing regime. Cases in South Korea are dropping. The

US cannot manufacture sufficient quantities of PPE since Ameri-can companies have off-shored their manufacturing to China and Trump will not command the private sector to manufacture PPE through the Defense Pro-duction Act. The US government no longer keeps an ample supply of PPE on hand since Americans have bought into the bad idea of “less government” and the private sector does not want to compete with a well-stocked government in times like this. COVID-19 is exposing that this manufacturing system is broken.

Tyson Foods executives have said that the closure of food-pro-

cessing plants due to COVID-19 is “breaking” the supply chain. American farmers are plowing under crops. Dairy farmers are dumping thousands of gallons of milk and millions of animals will be depopulated because of the clo-sure of meat processing facilities while jobless claims increase by 4.4 million, 26 million Americans have lost their jobs to COVID-19 and food banks are going empty. And you call this exceptional?

The U.S. can launch the $13 Billion USS Gerald Ford air-craft carrier with a $400K toilet problem but can’t get meat, milk and eggs to market in the midst of starving Americans, a crash-

ing economy and a pandemic. COVID-19 has pulled the covers off of the entire charade called American exceptionalism.

Baldwin told us, time catches up with kingdoms and empires and crushes them. You better check your clocks and watches. God sent Noah the rainbow sign, no more water, COVID-19 this time.

Dr. Wilmer Leon is the Produc-er/ Host of the nationally broad-cast talk radio program “Inside the Issues” on SiriusXM Satellite ra-dio channel 126. Go to www.wil-merleon.com or email: wjl3us@yahoo.com. www.twitter.com/drwleon and Dr. Leon’s Prescrip-tion at Facebook.com

COVID-19 and America–The Fire This TimeFrom page 6

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InternationalBlack people in UK four times more likely to die from Covid-19 than white people

Newyorkbeacon.com

Black people in the UK are four times more likely to die from Covid-19 than

white people and a number of other ethnic groups are also at an increased risk, according to new data released Thursday.

A report by the Office for National Statistics found black women (defined by the study as Black Caribbean, Black Af-rican and Black Other) are 4.3 times more likely to die with Covid-19 than white women, while black men are 4.2 more likely to die.

People of Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian, and mixed ethnicities also had a “statisti-cally significant raised risk of death,” the report found.

The disparities are “partly a result of socio-economic dis-advantage and other circum-stances, but a remaining part of the difference has not yet been explained,” the study said.

Even after taking into ac-count age, demographic factors and measures of self-reported health problems, black people

were still almost twice as like-ly to die from Covid-19 than white people.

While the report was unable to clearly outline every factor behind the trend, its conclu-sions make clear the the pan-demic — frequently referred to as a “great equalizer” — is anything but.

“It is urgent the causes of this disproportionality are in-vestigated,” the UK’s shadow justice secretary David Lammy tweeted on Thursday, calling the findings “appalling.”

Bolsonaro continues to dismiss Covid-19 threat as cases skyrocket in Brazil

Newyorkbeacon.com

Brazil’s coronavirus cases have spiked to 135,106 including 9,146 deaths,

according to numbers released Wednesday by the Brazilian Health Ministry. This surge comes as President Jair Bol-sonaro’s spokesman, Gen. Ota-vio Santana do Rego Barros, confirmed he tested positive for Covid-19.

Yet Bolsonaro said earlier this week he believed “the worst had passed” for the coronavirus pandemic, during a press conference outside the Alvorada presidential resi-dence in Brasilia. But as the number of cases and deaths continue to climb, many health experts fear the worst is yet to come.

Since Bolsonaro made the comment in Brasilia on Tues-day, there have been more than 20,000 new cases of coronavi-rus and the country registered 610 deaths on Thursday, nearly the highest toll yet in a 24-hour period, according to the Health Ministry.

Health Minister Nelson Te-ich said Thursday that stricter lockdowns may be needed in some of the hardest-hit regions, during a video con-ference with members of the lower house of Congress.

Former Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said “the toughest months” are like-ly to be May and June, during an interview with TV Globo last month, four days before he was fired by Bolsonaro over disagreements on the country’s coronavirus strategy.

Covid-19’s threat to European unityNewyorkbeacon.com

The European Union is a political long shot of an experiment that has sur-

vived all manner of existential threats this century: the migra-tion crisis of the past half-de-cade, the 2008 financial crisis and the yearslong north-south divide within Europe over who should pay to resuscitate the Eurozone’s economies, the 2005 votes of “no” to the European constitution, and, of course, Brexit.

But the pandemic now un-derway may present the big-gest risk to the political project of European unity, as countries still smarting from the bruises of 2008’s economic devasta-tion figure out how to fund economic recovery efforts across the continent. Today the question of whether coronavi-

rus will do what all those other crises could not — dismember an effort to create a peaceful, prosperous, political power — remains open. And it is up to Europe’s leaders and their citizens to decide how much sacrifice they are willing to make collectively in this mo-ment of nation-first sentiment to save it.

The moment now requires open wallets as well as sooth-ing words. After wealthi-er countries dismissed the idea of “corona bonds” to fund economic recovery, EU nations most impacted by Covid-19 eagerly await the European Commission’s eco-nomic recovery plan.

Whether that plan will pos-sess enough economic oomph to deliver real help is not yet clear. The European Union, despite its name, is made up

of member countries strug-gling in a slew of different and lopsided ways to recover from both the public health devastation and the financial downturn it wrought. The size of the plan and the verdict on who pays for it will tell us a lot about European unity and whether the EU as we have known it can survive this crisis.

To succeed in continu-ing an experiment that has brought enduring peace even while facing political turbu-lence, the divisions between the countries suffering the most from Covid-19 — in-cluding Italy, Spain, Portugal and France — and those that have felt the virus’s impact less, namely Germany and the Netherlands, among others, will have to be confronted, not skirted.

Ghana issues warning of rising virus cases after ‘superspreader’ event

(GIN)

Speaking at a Sunday night national address, Presi-dent Nana Akufo-Addo

revealed that a single worker at a fish factory here has infected 533 co-workers, bringing the total number of infections to 4,700 – the highest number in West Africa.

A superspreader event is a large COVID-19 infection cluster. The latest infection is part of a roughly two-week backlog of nearly 1,000 cases that had only just been report-ed, the president said.

Some 22 people have died of coronavirus-related causes, while 494 have recovered.

There are two large fish-processing plants in Tema, one owned by Thai Union Group PCL, the world’s top producer of canned tuna, and another owned by a local com-pany called Cosmo Seafoods Company Ltd.

Abraham Koomson, the head of the Ghana Federation of Labor, said the 533 cases were at Thai Union’s Pioneer Food Cannery Limited plant and that the facility had closed down. He said a handful of Cosmo Seafoods workers had also tested positive.

With 160,501 tests since

the outbreak, Ghana has car-ried out more tests per million people than any other country in Africa, the president said.

The government has been employing a “pool testing” strategy, which involves col-lectively reviewing up to 10 samples together and then only individually testing those in positive batches.

But as a result of the increased testing, Ghana’s case numbers will continue to rise above the current 4,700 confirmed infections in the country of 30 million.

“The more people we test for the virus, the more persons we will discover as positive,” the President said.

President Akufo-Addo’s speech comes three weeks after

he eased a 21-day lockdown on the capital Accra and the city of Kumasi, in the centre of the country, over concerns about economic repercussions for the many Ghanians who work in the informal economy and live hand-to-mouth.

Ghana’s ban on mass gatherings and the closure of schools and universities will continue until the end of the month, he said.

Meanwhile, Veronica Be-koe, a Ghanaian public health official, has been traveling around the country introducing people to her invention, named the Veronica Bucket. A dust-bin-sized plastic receptacle, it enables people to wash their hands in the absence of run-ning water.

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10 CultureAnde Harrell music entrepreneur dies at 59Andre Harrell was a hit-

making music entre-preneur whose Uptown

Records is considered one of the key bridges between hip-hop and R&B, died of heart failure Thursday night at his West Hollywood home. His death was confirmed by his former wife.

Harrell was a key to the careers of Sean Combs, Mary J. Blige, Heavy D & The Boyz, and Jodeci, among many others. His label, Uptown Re-cords, is remembered as one of the R&B giants of the 1990s, finding a niche as a home for artists who were sophisticated and smooth, yet retaining its street edge.

Andre O’Neal Harrell was born in the Bronx on Sep. 26, 1960. He graduated from Charles Evans Hughes High School in 1978 and attended Baruch College and Lehman College.

Harrell hired Sean Combs as an intern in the early 1990s, bringing aboard another ambi-tious young man with an ear for talent. Although Combs was a hard worker, the two Alpha males clashed, and Harrell fired him in 1993. That inspired Combs to found Bad Boy Records, signing The No-

torious B.I.G. as one of his first acts. The two later reconciled, and Harrell became a vice chairman of Combs’s Revolt.

Harrell became chief ex-ecutive officer of Motown in 1995 and remained there for two years. He also became a film producer, with Strictly Business and Honey on his resume. He was also an exec-utive producer of the televi-sion police drama New York Undercover.

Last year, BET announced it was partnering with Mr. Harrell on a mini-series about Uptown Records.

We are mourning the loss of a cultural icon, Andre Harrell, a chief architect of the modern hip-hop and R&B sound,” said BET President Scott Mills.

“Clean up woman” Betty Wright has diedGrammy winner Soul

singer Betty Wright has died from cancer.

Wright’s family confirmed the death to Essence. She was 66 and died from cancer at her home in Miami, Florida.

Wright had been diagnosed with endometrial cancer in the fall, said Steve Greenberg, president of S-Curve Records,

Wright was known for her song “Clean Up Woman,” which became a top five hit, according to the biography posted on her verified Face-book page.

She began singing gospel in a family group, the Echoes of Joy, and released her first album in 1968 at the age of 14 singing “Girls Can’t Do What

Guys Can Do.”After the dissolution of her

previous label she created her own in 1985, Ms. B Records. She made history three years later when she became the first woman to have a gold record on her own label, her biogra-phy said.

Other hits include “No Pain,” “Tonight is the Night”

Millie Small, My Boy Lollipop singer, dies aged 73

Newyorkbeacon.com

Millie Small, the Ja-maican singer known for her global 1964

hit My Boy Lollipop, has died aged 73.

Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, who origi-nally produced that song, told the Jamaican Observer that she died from a stroke.

Recorded under the name Millie, My Boy Lollipop reached No 2 in the UK and US, with Blackwell remem-bering: “It became a hit pretty much everywhere in the world … and it was just incredible how she handled it. She was such a sweet person. Very fun-ny, great sense of humour. She was really special.” In a sepa-rate statement, Island Records heralded her as “a true original, a wonderful human being”.

Small was born in 1946 in Jamaica’s Clarendon par-ish, and began her recording career in her mid-teens, cutting

singles for the island’s legend-ary Studio One label. Black-well discovered her after her duet with Roy Panton, We’ll Meet, topped Jamaican charts and, with her parents’ permis-sion, became her manager and moved her to the UK. “It felt like I was coming home, that this was where I was meant to be,” she remembered in 2016, having never returned to Jamaica.

She recorded My Boy Lol-lipop shortly after moving to London, a song originally recorded by New York singer Barbie Gaye in 1956. The “shuffle” style of US R&B used by Gaye had become popular in the Caribbean and mutated into ska; Small’s sweet, charming and high-pitched vocal, combined with the novelty of the unfamiliar new style, made My Boy Lol-lipop a huge hit. As well as its transatlantic success, it also topped the Australian charts.

In a 2016 interview she

claimed that Rod Stewart played harmonica on the song – “I can see him now at the studio, leaning against the wall. Cute little boy. A very nice-mannered guy” – though Stewart has said session player Pete Hogman played it. Small also claimed in 2016 that she had not re-ceived any royalties for My Boy Lollipop.

Small had another UK chart placing in 1964 with Sweet William, which reached No 30, though that would be her only other Top 40 hit.

Her recording career ended in 1970, and she moved to Singapore. She reappeared on a London news report in 1987, poor and living in a youth hostel with a young daughter. Speaking in 2016, she said: “I focused on being a mother from 1984, when my daughter was born, and since then I’ve been happy living a quiet life, sleeping and dreaming and meditating.”

fatherhood.gov877-4DAD411

be a dad today.Take time to

WWE SuperstarRoman Reigns and daughter Joelle

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Wednesday's WomanTina Knowles Lawson creates new initiative #IDIDMYPART to combat COVID-19HO U S T O N , T X –

Philanthropist, entre-preneur and fashion

designer, Tina Knowles Law-son has created the initiative #IDIDMYPART to encour-age residents in her beloved home city of Houston, Texas to get tested in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recog-nizing that African American communities have an escalated rate of infections and fatalities, Knowles Lawson is pleading to Houston residents to know their status in an urgent appeal to stop the spread of the coro-navirus.

“The virus is wreaking havoc on the Black communi-ty so we need a movement to prioritize our health,” Knowles Lawson says, citing a recent report from the CDC that as of April 23, 33.7% of COVID patients were African Amer-ican, even though African Americans comprise 13% of US population. And as per the CDC, as of mid-April, roughly 33% of all fatalities are African American.

“We are all in this together. But we have to look at what is happening in our Black and Brown communities and how they are being decimated by COVID-19,” Knowles Lawson continues. “It is critical that we stay vigilant with social distancing, wearing a mask, and most of all getting tested. If you don’t get tested then you don’t know if you are a carrier of the virus. Being asymptom-atic is how you infect your entire household and those around you, the very people you love. We have got to go to these free testing facilities and find out our status.”

Knowles Lawson has been a longtime supporter of Hous-ton, Texas and other commu-nities. Her philanthropic work includes the establishment of The Knowles-Rowland Center for Youth, the Survivor Foun-dation and Miss A Meal. With her family, she has helped new Houston residents following their arrival after Hurricane Katrina, aiding residents with, food, clothing and housing as a result of the flooding in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and feeding and housing victims of Hurricane Harvey in Houston. With husband, actor Richard Lawson, her latest philanthrop-ic initiative is the launch of the non-profit WACO Theater Center in Los Angeles.

Sponsored by BeyGOOD, the philanthropic initiative founded by her daughter, Be-yoncé, #IDIDMYPART Mo-bile Testing Relief Campaign, Mother’s Day weekend, aimed to bring awareness to the daily testing administered by United Memorial Medical Center, initiated by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee. The week-

end’s effort provided 1,000 test kits, face masks, gloves, essen-tial vitamins and household supplies to citizens of Houston. The test was free and adminis-tered under safe conditions as participants never had to exit their vehicles.

“Testing is crucial because it helps find hot spots and saves lives,” offers Congresswoman Jackson-Lee. “Texas has a very low COVID-19 test rate, sec-ond lowest in the nation. This is why the commitment by Ms. Tina Knowles Lawson and BeyGOOD is so significant in

helping Houstonians get out and get tested.”

After Knowles Lawson spoke with her friend, Tim Mettey, CEO of Matthew 25, an organization that has been providing Houston with supplies distributed by St. John’s Methodist Church in Downtown, Houston, for two full years post Hurricane Har-vey, a partnership with con-sumer goods giant Proctor & Gamble and minority-owned carrier, TWC Logistics was formed. P&G teamed up with BeyGOOD and is committed

as a donor for additional cities.Actor/director/producer/

philanthropist, Tyler Perry, has accepted Knowles Lawson’s challenge to do the same and will set up his own #IDID-MYPART campaign in At-lanta, Georgia. He will then challenge another celebrity to continue the movement in their city.

Participants receiving a test will also receive a grocery gift card from BeyGOOD, purchased from H-E-B Gro-cery Company, the supermar-ket chain with more than 350 stores throughout the state of Texas. H-E-B will match BeyGOOD’s contribution.

A voucher for a hot meal, also compliments of Bey-GOOD, was provided to par-ticipants and the medical staff administering the test, to two local favorite restaurants, Frenchy’s Chicken and Burns Original Bar-B-Q. Participants also received written materials with all the up-to-date infor-mation on how to stay safe. In observance of social distancing measures, supplies were placed in vehicle trunks as partici-pants exited the testing sites.

On Friday, May 8, Unit-ed Memorial Medical Center (UMMC) Healthcare staff ad-ministered 500 COVID-19 tests in Houston’s 3rd Ward at Cullen Middle School, located at 6900 Scott Street, Houston, Texas 77021. Testing took place from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

On Saturday, May 9, an

additional 500 tests were ad-ministered again by UMMC, this time in North Houston at Forest Brook Middle School, 7525 Tidwell, Houston, Texas 77016. Testing took place from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

BeyGOOD’s, Director, Ivy McGregor, looks forward to individuals, whether famous or not, and businesses, local and national, joining forces with Knowles Lawson and Bey-GOOD in building the move-ment to make a difference in the communities. “We must all do our part in saving lives and protecting our communities,” says McGregor. “What Ms. Tina has created is a huge step in showing us that we must put our health first.”

Recent ly, Beyoncé , teamed up with Jack Dorsey’s #StartSmall to donate 6 million dollars, through BeyGOOD, to local community-based organi-zations. Among the Houston groups receiving funding is United Memorial Medical Center. The center has been at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 with six testing locations in and around the Houston area.

For information on how your business could partner with BeyGOOD COVID-19 relief efforts, please send an email to BeyGood@park-wood-ent.com (Photos courte-sy of Parkwood Entertainment Location: Houston, Texas 2017, BeyGOOD post Hurri-cane Harvey relief)

By Audrey J. Bernard

Tina Knowles Lawson is joined by daughter Beyoncé serving food

Tina Knowles Lawson with her daughter Beyoncé

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12 FashionBlack Elegance reigns supreme at The Met galas

By Audrey J. Bernard

The Metropolitan Mu-seum of Art gala is always the first Monday

in May and the start of cul-tural celebrations and fashion fêtes worldwide! However, because of COVID-19 and New York City’s guidelines

against large gatherings, fash-ion’s biggest night scheduled for May 4, 2020, has been postponed to a later date. The annual red carpet event is a significant source of revenue for the museum. Each year’s event celebrates the theme of that year’s Costume Institute exhibition, and the exhibition

sets the tone for the formal dress of the night, since guests are expected to choose their fashion to match the theme of the exhibit. The 2019 gala themed “Camp: Notes on Fashion” sponsored by Gu-cci was hosted Vogue’s edi-tor-in-chief Anna Wintour with Alessandro Michele,

Harry Styles, Serena Wil-liams and camp impresario Lady Gaga. Joining Win-tour for the 2018 gala themed “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” was co-hosts Amal Clooney, Donatella Versace, and Ri-hanna who stunned in a pearl and jewel-encrusted robe,

matching papal mitre and necklace, Christian Louboutin heels, hoop earrings by Maria Tash, and jewelry by Carti-er. The entire “Riri does the Pope” look was designed by Margiela. Here are some of the most spectacular fashion statements for previous galas. (Getty Images)

Rihanna Rihanna Rihanna Ciara Lupita Nyong’o

Beyonce Zendaya Lizzo Solange Iman

Zendaya Jennifer Lopez Tracee Ellis Ross Rihanna Cardi B

Cardi BSerena Williams Rihanna

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Beacon on the scene

STOP THE SPREAD OF COVID-19!LEARN HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AND OTHERS AT HOME.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF COVID-19?• The most common symptoms are fever, cough, sore throat and shortness

of breath. Other symptoms include feeling achy, loss of taste or smell, headache, and diarrhea.

• Most people with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) will have mild or moderate symptoms and can get better on their own.

WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I GET SICK WITH COVID-19 SYMPTOMS?If you are sick with COVID-19 symptoms, assume you have it. When you are sick:• If you have trouble breathing, pain or pressure in your chest, are confused

or cannot stay awake, or have bluish lips or face, call 911 immediately.• Call your doctor if you are age 50 or older or have a health condition that

puts you at increased risk, or if you do not feel better after three days. • Always contact a doctor or go to the hospital if you have severe symptoms

of COVID-19 or another serious health issue.• Do not leave your home except to get necessary medical care or essential

food or supplies (if someone cannot get them for you). • If you must leave your home: Avoid crowded places. Stay at least 6 feet from others. Cover your nose and mouth with a bandana, scarf or other face covering. Wash your hands before you go out, and use alchohol-based hand

sanitizer while outside.• Household members can go out for essential work and needs but should

monitor their health closely. If you or someone in your home is sick: • Create physical distance: Do not have visitors.

WHEN CAN I LEAVE MY HOME AFTER BEING SICK? • If you have been sick, stay home until: You are fever-free for three days without Tylenol or other medication and It has been at least seven days since your symptoms started and Your symptoms have improved• Reminder: New York is on PAUSE. This means that even if you have been

sick, you should only leave your home for essential work or errands, or to exercise, while staying at least 6 feet from others.

NEED HELP?• If you are having a medical emergency, call 911.• If you do not have a doctor but need one, call 844-NYC-4NYC

(844-692-4692). New York City provides care, regardless of immigration status, insurance status or ability to pay.

• For more information, call 311 or visit nyc.gov/coronavirus.

Stay at least 6 feet from others. Sleep head-to-toe if you share a bed with someone who is sick, or sleep

on the couch. Keep people who are sick separate from those at risk for serious illness. • Cover up: Cover your nose and mouth with a bandana, scarf or other face covering

when you are within 6 feet of others. Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue or your inner elbow.• Keep it clean: Throw tissues into the garbage immediately after use. Wash your hands often with soap for 20 seconds, especially after you

cough or sneeze. Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer if you are unable to wash your hands. Frequently clean surfaces you touch, such as doorknobs, light switches,

faucets, phones, keys and remote controls. Wash towels, sheets and clothes at the warmest possible setting with

your usual detergent, and dry completely. Do not share eating utensils with others, and wash them after every use.

The NYC Health Department may change recommendations as the situation evolves. 4.20

WHO IS MOST AT RISK FOR SERIOUS ILLNESS?• People age 50 or older (people age 65 or older are at the highest risk)• People who have other health conditions, such as: Lung disease Asthma Heart disease

Obesity Diabetes Kidney disease

Liver disease Cancer A weakened immune system

Alicia Keys partners with Amazon Music for Musicares’ COVID-19 relief fundGlobal R&B superstar and 15-

time Grammy-winning artist Alicia Keys has partnered with

CNN for the visual premiere of her new single “Good Job.” Keys globally pre-miered the video during CNN’s special live Global Town Hall Thursday (April 23). The Town Hall addressed “the lat-est questions and concerns in the fight against COVID-19.” Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta hosted. Accord-ing to a statement, “Good Job” was originally recorded last year for Keys’ forthcoming seventh studio album ALI-CIA and is now being dedicated to “people spanning all walks of life during the COVID-19 crisis.” In a statement regarding the song, Keys said “Whether you’re on the frontlines at the hospitals, balancing work, family and homeschool teaching, delivering mail, packages, or food, or facing other personal difficulties because of COVID-19, I feel you. You are seen, loved and deeply appreciated.” The track was co-written by Keys’ hus-band and GRAMMY-winning producer Swizz Beatz, four-time GRAMMY win-ner The Dream and Avery Chambliss. Following the song’s video premiere, it will also appear in an upcoming CNN Heroes campaign. Released via RCA Records, “Good Job” is now available on all streaming platforms.

Jack Dorsey gives $10M to Sean Penn’s CORE to fight COVID-19Twitter founder & CEO Jack

Dorsey cont inues to be a personal cash machine to

COVID-19 initiatives and most recently donated $10 million to CORE, the disaster relief group co-founded by actor Sean Penn a decade ago. Funds from Dorsey’s #startsmall initiative will expand free COVID-19 testing in cities across the country. The philanthropist launched #startsmall last month for COVID-19 relief, girl’s health and education, and efforts towards a universal basic income and transferred $1 billion, or nearly a third of his net worth, to the new fund, making him a philanthropic rock star for the current pandemic. “Too many others of Nero’s ilk for-get that fiddles are not fireproof. His maverick and nimble approach to dis-pensing this emergency response fund matches the urgency, most typically only seen when corporations identify commercial expediency,” said Penn. “If there’s a capitalist future, Jack Dorsey is its leading and razor-sharp edge. CORE is grateful to be among the worldwide organizations in which Jack Dorsey is entrusting with his faith and partnership.” Penn started CORE after the 2010 Haiti earth-quake and it’s been operating a dozen

COVID-19 test sites across California over the past five weeks. Dorsey’s donation lets it expand and open free test sites into Atlanta, Detroit, New Orleans and the Navajo Nation — fo-cused on vulnerable and underserved communities.

Alicia Keys (Photo courtesy Alicia Keys post)

Sean Penn at a CORE coronavirus testing site in Malibu (Photo by Chris Pizzello/AP/Shutterstock)

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By Audrey J. Bernard

In the community

Mask wearing Firemen salute COVID-19 Medics with uplifting hand claps outside of St. Lukes Hospital in the Village of Harlem (Photo: Jimbe Carroll)

Masks a generous asset to an essential taskBy Vinette K. Pryce Special Assignment

The goodness and kind-ness of average citizens has certainly forged for-

ward during these days and months of COVID-19 quar-antine in New York City. As a resident of the county of Kings, throughout these perilous days, I have evidenced more than a few acts of kindness emanating from actions by queens who have stepped forward to pro-vide comfort to others during these scary times.

Consider, a neighbor, an individual I now know to be Sarah Martinez; a parent to three, young, children she is now obligated to home-school from 9 am to 2 pm. every day because of the state declared quarantine and due to our shared predicaments are now more than passing neighbors.

She lives on a floor 12 flights beneath mine and as many from where her mother-in-law resides two units away among 18 others in a 22-floor, seven-building housing com-plex.

Recently, the Puerto Rican family lost their patriarch and are adjusting to life in quaran-tine without Tony, a tiger and once fierce father-figure who provided for his wife Alma and four children.

Despite the personal trage-dy the widow, Alma Martinez is extending herself beyond confined quarters and though bereaved, has unselfishly of-fered courtesies to neighbors. A personal testimonial to her philanthropy gratefully ac-knowledges the day she sug-gested she would assist with replenishing my grocery needs whenever she ventured out. It was an offer I could not refuse.

I supplied my list and on each occasion she has braved the surge from the pandemic — obliged my requests in order to spare me the agony of standing on line at my local bodega and supermarket.

Our mutual arrangement is continuing with our doorknobs being the intermediary for pickup and delivery. Alma’s generosity did not stop there,

on a day when I least expected to hear my door-bell it sounded a call for response. When I opened the door there was a bag hanging from the knob. Inside a lovely, handmade mask — lined and filtered for my protection.

A note informed its origin so I called to express my grat-itude for the free, unselfish act of kindness. That she would even consider gifting the safety item truly heartened my day.

I called to thank her and to inquire about the origin of the beautiful custom-made personal protective item. She told me it was made by her daughter-in-law Sarah, the mother of three.

It was then that I decided that such a lovely covering could well serve the mainte-nance and management team who toil in the housing devel-opment to make the buildings operative. In addition, it was my opinion that the task of making the items could well provide supplemental stimulus to the mother who is unable to earn a salary as usual.

I showed off my gift to one of my maintenance workers. On seeing the photo image, he suggested a willingness to pay a nominal fee for one

he thought might protect him from the routine duties he per-forms daily disposing of tons of garbage, cleaning eleva-tors, laundry rooms, mopping floors, etc.

Against Sarah’s resistance to accepting compensation I insisted citing the reality of feeding a family under unsal-aried quarantine. Apprehen-

sively she conceded. Needless, to say my next impulse was to recruit my generous friends to purchase the one of a kind masks to aid the selfless mom whose initial motivation was only to help others.

My dear friends jumped at the idea. I dugged into my La-bor Day stash of scarves, flags and cloths; resurrected the

stored fabrics I had acquired from numerous trips to Africa and proceeded to fulfill orders.

The promotional cloths annually thrown into crowds for masqueraders to “get some-thing and wave” are now ful-filling a useful purpose. They all bear colorful banners from many Caribbean islands and seem to be the enticement friends find alluring to partic-ipate in my initiative.

Since then I have been pleasantly awed by Sarah’s creativity and fast response to making and mailing masks to my friends in California, Florida, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Jamaica and Manhattan.

Granted, her days begin with home schooling three children of varying grade levels and that her priority is the daunting task of sub-stituting for teachers skilled and prepared to educate masses of children, she still manages to find time to sew for a cause.

Undoubtedly, the fact she also must clean, cook, shop for necessities tend to her husband, and also fulfill oth-er responsibilities, Sarah is among the legions rising to the challenge, applying a new skill and in the process making a great contribution to restoring normalcy.

Sarah and so many gen-erous, thoughtful, unselfish, unsung heroes have essential-ly provided a service—from standing on lines at the post office, buying filters to line the masks and devoting hours to secure the safety of others she is one of the reason fight-er pilots from the Air Force’s Thunderbirds and the Navy’s Blue Angels displayed grati-tude last week.

To Sarah, Alma and so many others, noise-making bells, whistles, drums, pots and pans and loud applauses are in order for the huge sacri-fices they are making to benefit others. (Photos: VP)

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Folks!Michael Jackson’s estate says ‘Beat It’ to Quincy JonesAn Appellate Court re-

cently ruled that the Michael Jackson es-

tate does not have to pay $6.9 million in royalties and fees to music maestro Quincy Jones. The three-judge panel of the 2nd Appellate District overturned a 2017 jury verdict finding that the trial judge had allowed the jury to misinterpret Jones’ contract.

Jones’ attorneys had argued that the producer was entitled to some $30 million in royalties and other income derived from the “This Is It” concert film, two Cirque du Soleil shows, and other revenue resources that followed Jackson’s death in 2009 at age 50 which result-ed in jurors awarding Jones $9.4 million. However, that ruling was overturned with the Appeals Court taking back most of that judgment stating that the then judge had erred by not interpreting the contract

himself, and instead leaving it up to the jurors.

After Jackson’s death, his estate negotiated an increased share of profits through a joint venture with Sony, going from 50% to two-thirds. Jones’

attorneys argued at trial that he was entitled under his pro-ducer contract to a proportional increase in royalties. The jury agreed, granting Jones $5.3 million in joint venture profits. However the Appeals Court

ruled that Jones’ producer contracts did not entitle him to such an increase. The court also vacated an award of $1.6 million in remix fees, which Jones claimed he was owed.

Jones’ contract gave him first right of refusal on remixes of his Jackson albums, which he was not given. However the panel held he was not entitled to be paid fees for remixing work that he did not perform. “The only compensation Jones was entitled to receive was royalties from record sales on remixes, and the evidence indicates he received them,” Ashmann-Gerst wrote. “If he wanted remixing fees, he had to negotiate them in separate agreements.” The court left in-tact the remaining $2.6 million awarded to Jones consisting of unpaid license fees from “This Is It,” plus other fees and interest.

“Quincy Jones was the last

person we thought would try to take advantage of Michael Jackson by filing a lawsuit three years after he died asking for tens of millions of dollars he wasn’t entitled to,” said Jackson’s attorney Howard Weitzman. “We knew the verdict was wrong when we heard it, and the court of appeal has completely vindicated us. From the beginning this was an attempt to take advantage of Michael knowing he wasn’t here to defend himself.”

John Branca, co-execu-tor of the estate, added: “So many people have tried to take advantage of Michael and mischaracterize him since his death. It’s gratifying that in this case the court in an overwhelmingly favorable and just decision, recognizes that Michael Jackson was both an enormous talent and an extremely fair business executive.”

Meghan Markle & Prince Harry stay in a home fit for a kingMeghan Markle and

Prince Harry and their son Archie have

been social distancing in an $18 million double-gated Tus-can-style villa in the moun-tains above Beverly Hills in a neighborhood known as Beverly Hills owned by movie mogul Tyler Perry whom they met through mutual friend Oprah Winfrey. The royals have lived there since late March after relocating from Vancouver Island in Canada while they shop for their own palatial property. The hillside complex is located where the richest of rich call home and rests at the very back of a 24/7 guard-gated commu-nity known as Beverly Ridge Estates made up of only 14 lavish homes that are hidden within its secured entrance. The ludicrously huge 25,000 square feet of living space, multi-winged temporary home, easily qualifies as a majestic megamansion. Records show Perry acquired the 22-acre Coldwater Canyon property in

2004 and subsequently spent untold millions — likely well into the eight figures — cus-tom building the Tuscan-style behemoth, which offers 8

bedrooms and 12 bathrooms. The high-security fortress sits within a guard-gated enclave and features its own driveway gate, a slew of security camer-

as and a state-of-the-art alarm system. In addition, the house has a private security team who check the premises at all times, making the estate an ideal

residential choice for royalty! From all accounts, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have settled down in a home fit for a king!

Malia & Sasha Obama appear in Becoming DocFormer First Lady Mi-

chelle Obama’s new Netf l ix documenta-

ry, Becoming, began stream-ing on Wednesday, May 6, 2020. The film is an up-close-and-personal look at Obama’s celebrated book tour and gives a broad look at behind the scenes of the tour. The sold out event which takes place from city-to-city brims over with anecdotes chronicling her personal jour-ney to the White House and beyond. Viewers are treated to cameo appearances by Former President Barack

Obama and First Daughters Malia, 21, and Sasha, 18, who glowingly expressed their love for their mom and how proud they are of her. This interview marked their first public outing since they left the White House in 2016 and not surprisingly they have blossomed into beauti-ful young women. “Barack and I are empty nesters, and that has been exhilarating to watch the two little beings you were in charge of grow-up,” FLOTUS says, shortly before the doc cuts to the girls. “I’m excited for her to be proud of

what she’s done,” says Sasha, who just finished her fresh-man year at the University of Michigan. “Because I think that that’s the most important thing for a human to do, is be proud of themselves.” Malia, a junior at Harvard, adds that their mother is “no longer fac-ing that same scrutiny—being able to let all of that leave your mind, creates so much more space.” Both girls exuded self-confidence and an inner beauty inherent from their proud parents. Having spent 8 adolescent years in the spot-light, they are all grown up! Malia & Sasha Obama

Michael Jackson with Quincy Jones (Photo by Doug Pizac-AP-REX-Shutterstock)

Meghan & Harry (inset) at Tyler Perry’s Beverly Hills mansion

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By Audrey J. Bernard

All that jazz!Meet this year’s inductees into the Ertegun Jazz Hall of FamePosted by Audrey J. Bernard

This year’s inductees into the Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame, nominated

by a panel of jazz experts and voted in by members of the public, are Freddie Green, Lee Konitz, John Lewis, and Teddy Wilson! Jazz At Lincoln Center is delighted and honored to welcome these figures into the Hall of Fame and look forward to cele-brating their lives and music with performances at Dizzy’s Club in early 2021. JALC has created a playlist (on Spotify, Apple Music, and Deezer) to highlight each of these extraor-dinary artists, and invite you to check it out, with commentary below! (SOURCE: Jazz At Lincoln Center)Teddy Wilson (1912–1986)The nonpareil master pianist of the swing era style, Teddy Wilson forged a sound in-delibly his own by distilling the rhapsodic romanticism of Earl Hines and the orchestral sounds of stride piano into an intensely melodic, rhythmi-cally charged, yet smoothly elegant style of playing. From his earliest recordings, Teddy Wilson’s trademark melodic work and brilliant interplay of his hands were on full display; check out his playing on “Blue Interlude” in the playlist, or on “Body and Soul” and “Runnin’ Wild.” Indeed, Wilson’s contri-butions to the Benny Goodman Trio and the Benny Goodman Quartet rank among some of the greatest musical moments in jazz history. With Goodman, he was one of the first black musicians to appear promi-nently with white musicians. In addition to his extensive work as a sideman, Wilson also led his own groups and recording sessions from the late 1920s to the 1980s.His importance within that group goes further than music, too, as Teddy Wil-son’s performing in the trio in 1936 marked the first instance of a publicly integrated jazz band. Wilson’s contributions in the 1930s also helped forged the swing song style of jazz. Through his collaborations with Billie Holiday for Columbia Records, Wilson provided not only extraordinary pianist sup-port, but he also helped shape the band and arrangements for each session, bringing structure and consistency to an extraor-dinary range of material. In his own work, Wilson led a big band briefly but primarily fo-cused his work as a bandleader in trio and small group settings. His solo performance of “Liza” and “I Know That You Know” are unquestionably high-water

marks of his playing during the swing era, while “Moonlight on the Ganges,” “Little Girl Blue,” and “Fools Rush In” show how his gorgeously elegant style continued to refine and develop well into Wilson’s career. De-scribed by critic Scott Yanow as “the definitive swing pianist”, Wilson’s sophisticated and el-egant style was featured on the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald.John Lewis (1920–2001)A pianist, composer, and musi-cal visionary with few equals, John Lewis initially came of age in the midst of the bebop revolution. Rapidly demon-strating his prowess both as a pianist and as a composer, Lewis made his mark early in ensembles like the Charlie Parker All Stars (“Parker’s Mood”) and the Dizzy Gilles-pie Orchestra (“Two Bass Hit,” which Lewis composed). In the Gillespie Orchestra, Lewis would also meet Milt Jackson, Ray Brown, and Kenny Clarke, and this rhythm section would serve as the birth of what would ultimately become the Modern Jazz Quartet. The 1940s also demonstrated Lew-is’ incredible musical mind and willingness to stretch into new territories. Alongside fellow luminaries like Miles Davis, Gil Evans, and Lee Konitz (a fellow 2020 inductee), Lewis wrote for, arranged for, and performed in the iconic nonet whose 1949 sessions—lat-er dubbed the Birth of the Cool sessions—would help to outline a new path for post-be-bop sounds. Lewis’ “Rouge” stands as a highlight of a series of pieces already lined with masterpieces. By the 1950s the Modern Jazz Quartet was born, and it would operate consistently for nearly half a century under the personnel of Milt Jackson, John Lewis, Percy Heath, and Connie Kay. With each member holding a leadership role in the collective ensemble, Lewis’ role as the leading composer and arranger for the group enabled him to embark on an incredible ex-ploration and development of styles. From earlier works like the iconic “Django,” Lewis would develop increasingly detailed and nuanced arrange-ments for the quartet, as can be heard on later material like “Spanish Steps” or “For Ellington.” While associated with the third stream move-ment and its classical influenc-es (as can be heard on “A Day in Dubrovnik”), the Modern Jazz Quartet also swung hard and played with passion and

fire, which one can hear in “The Golden Striker” from the group’s 1974 farewell concert (which kicked off a short sab-batical for the group). While Lewis’ history and the Modern Jazz Quartet’s history are in-tensely interwoven, his work outside of the group is no less extraordinary. A driving figure and force behind the 1950s third stream movement, Lewis’ larger ensemble compositions during that period easily rank him as one of jazz’s greatest composers, as heard on “Three Little Feelings.”Lee Konitz (1927–2020)Lee Konitz was an artist ded-icated to creating new perfor-mances and improvisations that always uncovered new melodic ideas of expression in every song, without ever falling back on clichés or melodrama. A nearly impossible task for any artist, the level to which Konitz achieved this goal is nothing short of astonishing. The fact that throughout this quest he also outlined a path for alto saxophone playing that offered an alternative to Char-lie Parker’s also ranks Konitz as one of the most influential performers in the instrument’s history. From his earliest re-cordings, the hallmark sound of Konitz was already appar-ent. His solo on “Donna Lee” in the highly influential Claude Thornhill Orchestra reveals an artist who had absorbed the bebop idiom, but had also developed its ideas into a new approach to rhythmic and me-lodic lines. By 1949 Konitz’s innovative approach is on full display through his solos in the

iconic Birth of the Cool ses-sions (his solo on “Move” is particularly lovely) as well as on “Subconscious-Lee,” which features Konitz performing alongside his teacher and men-tor, pianist Lennie Tristano. Many of the 1940s influences and ideas would continue to feature in Konitz’s 1950s work. Indeed, Konitz’s work in another iconic big band—the Stan Kenton Orchestra—provided an incredible outlet for his talents (as can be heard in his solo on “Impro-visation”), while his work on his mentor Lennie Tristano’s self-titled album finds Konitz in incredible form. This period also found him working and recording alongside saxo-phonist Warne Marsh, another disciple of Tristano’s. Togeth-er they delivered incredible and breathtaking unison work; as can be heard on “Back-ground Music,” the two horn players inspired one another to new heights. Though asso-ciated with the cool jazz aes-thetic, Lee Konitz’s playing could be fiery and dazzling. On a track like “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To” from 1961’s Motion, Konitz goes toe-to-toe with the ex-plosive drumming of Elvin Jones, while on 1975’s “Sa-tori,” Konitz’s work shines alongside luminaries like Dave Holland and Jack De-Johnette. Above all, Konitz never stopped learning and refining his sound, and he refused to retread old ideas in his playing. Comparing a 1991 performance of “Lullaby of Birdland” against a 2009 performance of the same piece

finds him constantly searching and stretching towards pure improvisation.Freddie Green (1911–1987)While Count Basie may have been the head of the Count Basie Orchestra, Freddie Green was its heart. A rhythm guitar-ist who rarely soloed, Green nevertheless became the gold standard for rhythm guitar playing in jazz. Refining his guitar work to even one-or-two-note chords, Green’s dis-tinctive comping style helped ensure that the Basie Orchestra remained one of the most eminently swinging bands in history. Not only that, Green also was the rare figure to per-form in the multiple iterations of the Basie Orchestra, notably its Old Testament and New Testament incarnations, ensur-ing that his highly distinctive approach to rhythm guitar inspired generations of musi-cians across decades of play-ing. Early on, Green’s work in the All-American Rhythm Section (along with Basie on piano, Walter Page on bass, and Papa Jo Jones on drums) was the template that rhythm guitarists aspired to match. His comping on “One O’Clock Jump,” particularly audible at the beginning, aligns so per-fectly with the rest of the band as to set up the ensemble’s per-formance with a sense of swing that is both light and driving. Even in later incarnations of the band, when the arranging textures got heavier, Green’s rhythm guitar ensured the band kept its distinct feel: from the rousing blues of “Roll ‘Em Pete,” to the swagger of “Fly Me to the Moon,” to the ma-jestic take on “Satin Doll,” Green’s comping helped per-fectly shape the sound. Small ensemble recordings like the Kansas City 8’s take on “Ode to Pres” gave Green more visibility in his work, while his small ensemble work with Herb Ellis on Rhythm Willie is a career highlight in an already legendary career. While not known as a prolific composer, Green nevertheless was an excellent one, as his memora-ble work “Corner Pocket” can attest. Freddie Green played rhythm guitar until the end, and his excellent performance with Diane Schuur in 1987 of “Travelin’ Light” was re-corded a week prior to his passing. Even to the end, he remained the greatest, most influential rhythm guitarist of all time. (Special thanks to Alfred Green, Freddie’s son and the author of Green’s biog-raphy, Rhythm Is My Beat, who selected the Freddie Green tracks on this playlist.)

2020 Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame Inducteest: Lee Konitz, by Frank Stewart; John Lewis, by Frank Stewart; Teddy Wilson, courtesy of the Library of Congress; Freddie Green, by K. Abe

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COVIT NYEconomic hardships here

and abroad. New York City’s Black and Latino communi-ties are hardest hit with CO-VIT19 infection rates and fa-talities. The major complaint from Black and brown New Yorkers is the long wait for unemployment benefits, now about six weeks. Economical-ly, those communities suffer disproportionately without revenue streams to pay for food, rent and/or mortgages.

Hunger and economic de-spair also plague New York’s people of color. Wakefield in the Bronx; Flatbush, Flat-bush East, Crown Heights in Brooklyn; and Jamaica, Queens are areas vulnerable to Covid-19. Same areas also houses many Blacks from Af-rica, the Caribbean and Latin America, who send billions of dollars in remittances annual-ly, back to their homelands to support relatives.

NEWSMAKERSCongratulations to Can-

ada-born Nicholas Johnson, Class of 2020, who is the first Black valedictorian in Princeton University’s 274 year history. An operations research and financial engi-neering major, Johnson’s se-nior thesis was a paper on the development of algorithms to design community-based preventive health models to decrease obesity. During senior year, he did an intern-ship at Oxford University. In September, Johnson begins PhD studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in operations research.

Harlem renaissance man Musa Jackson is ready to launch a new digital publica-tion, Ambassador Magazine, which will cover the arts, entertainment, entrepreneurs, fashion, hospitality and pol-itics. First guests are Melba Wilson, restauranteuse, cater-er and President of the NYC Restaurant Alliance and Dan-iel Watts star of TINA, The Tina Turner Musical. Wilson latest venture, Melba’s Mus-sels, will open when NYS lifts restaurant restrictions. Visit ambassadordigitalmag.com on May 14 at 7 pm

Thomas Watkins, Chair/CEO of the Challenge News-paper Group. including the NY Daily Challenge, hosted his eightysomething birth-day party in grand style at the Comus Social Club, in Brooklyn. Partygoers includ-ed Jeanne Parnell, WHCR; Dr. Joyce Coppin; Evelyn Kalibala; Jean Wells, Posi-tive Community; Drs. Karl and Faye Rodney, NY Carib News; and politico Al Vann

RIP: Richard Penniman, Little Richard, 87, died on May 9, said his son Danny He immodestly called himself the King and Queen of Rock and Roll. A founding father/archi-tect of Rock and Roll, he was a quadruple talent–musician, a vocalist, pianist and guitar-ist and composer – without equal. He was the sexually fluid, flamboyant, musician evangelist, influenced by gospel music and the blues, who ran away from home in his mid teens. His chart-top-ping music classics include

“Long Tall Sally,” “Tutti Frutti,” “Lucille,” “Good Golly Miss Molly,” songs were new to American music idiom US during the 50s and liked by Blacks and whites in the USA and beyond. James Brown and Prince were ac-olytes as were Elton John, Jim Bowie, the Beattles, the Rolling Stone, the latter two opened for him during Euro-pean tours. He was a one of the musicians honored at the inaugural Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony.

Andre Harrell, 59, died in Los Angeles, California due to chronic heart related problems. Himself a rapper with Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, Harrell was a record producer, composer and busi-nessman, who bridged the gap between HIPHOP and R&B cultures, while fine tuning careers of Puff Daddy, Mary J. Blige and Jodeci. Founder of the legendary UPTOWN RECORDS, he was Motown CEO. He was Motown CEO MOTOWN CEO Founded Uptown Records

A Harlem-based management consultant, Victoria Horsford can be reached at Victoria.horsford@gmail.com

What's going onBy Victoria Horsford

COVID19/UPDATESGLOBAL DATA: AFFECTED CASES

DEAD

WORLDWIDE 4,177,504 286,330

USA 1,300,000 80,684

NYSTATE 342,267 27,003

NYC 183,662 20,056

There are few people living in America, who is not a COVID19 101 scholar. The media (social, written, electronic) cycle is re-lentless. In addition to the mainstream media, Americans are treated to daily separate press conferences by Governor Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill deBlasio. WGO will veer off in some other directions about how life goes on outside the prism of our pandemic/economic crisis.

The Linda Villarosa 5/3 NY Times maga-zine cover story, A TERRIBLE PRICE: The Deadly Racial Disparities of COVID-19 In America, subtitled “For the Zulu Club, a Black social organization in New Orleans, Mardi Gras was a joy. The coronavirus made it a tragedy” is a good read. It is Pulitzer quality prose, poised on 2020 New Orleans, punctu-ated by good research and analysis about race and health in post Emancipation America. Good for the voracious history reader.

America is putting the pause on the shut-down button and is getting back to business with about 40 states, up and running by May 15. This is not what the scientists and doc-tors recommended based on their knowledge about plagues. A gradual transition was the scientists’ RX. Dr. Andrew Fauci says “It’s bad to return too soon.” While COVID19 infections and fatalities are in decline in

wisely governed states, NY, NJ, CA, which are opening up in phases, the numbers are spiking in states like Iowa, Tennessee and Texas, states which opened to business too fast. Note a 75% surge in COVID19 infections in the American heartland since states opened early, urged on by President Trump who fails to seem the intersection of the coronavirus containment outcome and restoration of a healthy economy.

By June 15, America should be back to what remains of the “old normal.” On 5/8 the unemployment rate was 14.7%. With most states well beyond the Pause interlude, let’s see how many jobs exist. The next stimulus package must allocate monies to all states in need of resuscitation after COVID19 part 1. It is a necessary stimulant for the economy. Some genius must devise a plan to help the unemployed pay back rent.

BLACKS:MEDIA MATTERS

Last week, there were two stories of interest to African Americans, one is about the New York Police Department’s treatment of Blacks and social distancing in the city; and the other is about the Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed in Georgia, while jogging, by a white father/son terrorist team, in February and who were never charged for the transgression. At press time, Neither the NYC Mayor nor NYPD has provided answers or solu-tions to the NYPD officer assaulting Black men for not

(5 ft) social distancing, which was recorded by cell phone users, while distributing face masks to whites people sun-bathing next to each other. Application of the law is still biased in NYC. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Rev. Al Sharpton, Brooklyn Boro President Eric Adams and NYC African American stakeholders are meeting with Hizzoner and NYPD about the sad tale of two cities.

The February murder of Ahmaud Arbery, 25, by whites Gregory, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, was committed with impunity, until the atrocity came to the attention of national me-dia, especially to NY Times writer Charles Blow and the NY Times Atlanta bureau, stuff happened. The Georgia Attorney General named a fourth prosecutor, African American Joyette Holmes, to oversee the case. On May 7, the McMichael’s were arrest-ed and charged with murder and aggravated assault.

If you travel through the Netflix streaming universe, you should look at the feature documentary, BECOMING, adapted from the bestseller memoir by Michelle Obama

which has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. BECOMING stars the former first Lady, spanning her life before, during and after her White House tenure. Doc-umentary was produced by Higher Grounds, the Obamas production company.

Byron Lewis, advertising media baron, who founded the multicultural advertising company, UniWorld Group in 1969, is profiled in an Adver-tisingweek360.com article, “SURVIVOR: The Man Who Changed The Face of African American Advertising.”

Linda Villarosa

Ahmaud Arbery

Byron Lewis

Nicholas Johnson

Richard Penniman

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EntertainmentBy Don Thomas

Remembering

Little Richard, a Founding Father of R&RBy David Browne

Rolling Stone

Little Richard, a found-ing father of Rock and Roll whose fervent

shrieks, flamboyant garb, and joyful, gender-bending persona embodied the spirit and sound of that new art form, has died. He was 87. The musician’s son, Danny Jones Penniman, confirmed the pioneer’s death to Rolling Stone, adding that the cause of death was cancer.

Starting with “Tutti Frutti” in 1956, Little Richard cut a series of unstoppable hits – “Long Tall Sally” and “Rip It Up” that same year, “Lucille” in 1957, and “Good Golly Miss Molly” in 1958 – driven by his simple, pumping piano, gospel-influenced vocal excla-mations and sexually charged (often gibberish) lyrics.

“I heard Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, and that was it,” Elton John told Rolling Stone in 1973. “I didn’t ever want to be anything else. I’m more of a Little Richard stylist than a Jerry Lee Lewis, I think. Jerry Lee is a very intricate piano player and very skillful, but Little Richard is more of a pounder.”

Although he never hit the top 10 again after 1958, Little Richard’s influence was mas-sive. The Beatles recorded several of his songs, includ-ing “Long Tall Sally,” and Paul McCartney’s singing on those tracks – and the Beat-les’ own “I’m Down” – paid tribute to Little Richard’s shredded-throat style. His songs became part of the rock and roll canon, covered over the decades by everyone from the Everly Brothers, the Kinks, and Creedence Clearwater Re-vival to Elvis Costello and the Scorpions. “Elvis popularized [rock and roll],” Steven Van Zandt tweeted after the news broke. “Chuck Berry was the storyteller. Richard was the archetype.”

Little Richard’s stage perso-na – his pompadours, androg-ynous makeup and glass-bead shirts – also set the standard for rock and roll showmanship; Prince, to cite one obvious example, owed a sizable debt to the musician. “Prince is the Little Richard of his genera-tion,” Richard told Joan Rivers in 1989 before looking at the camera and addressing Prince. “I was wearing purple before you was wearing it!”

Born Richard Wayne Pen-niman on December 5th, 1932, in Macon, Georgia, he was one of 12 children and grew up around uncles who were preachers. “I was born in the slums. My daddy sold whiskey, bootleg whiskey,” he told Roll-ing Stone in 1970. Although he sang in a nearby church, his

father Bud wasn’t supportive of his son’s music and accused him of being gay, resulting in Penniman leaving home at 13 and moving in with a white family in Macon.

But music stayed with him: One of his boyhood friends was Otis Redding, and Pen-niman heard R&B, Blues and Country while working at a concession stand at the Macon City Auditorium.

After performing at the Tick Tock Club in Macon and win-ning a local talent show, Pen-niman landed his first record deal, with RCA, in 1951. (He became “Little Richard” when he about 15 years old, when the R&B and Blues worlds were filled with acts like Little Es-ther and Little Milton; he had also grown tired with people mispronouncing his last name as “Penny-man.”) He learned his distinctive piano style from Esquerita, a South Carolina singer and pianist who also wore his hair in a high black pompadour.

For the next five years, Little Richard’s career ad-vanced only fitfully; fairly tame, conventional singles he cut for RCA and other labels didn’t chart. “When I first came along, I never heard any rock & roll,” he told Rolling

Stone in 1990. “When I started singing [rock & roll], I sang it a long time before I presented it to the public because I was afraid they wouldn’t like it. I never heard nobody do it, and I was scared.”

By 1956, he was washing dishes at the Greyhound bus station in Macon (a job he had first taken a few years earlier after his father was murdered and Little Richard had to sup-port his family). By then, only one track he’d cut, “Little Richard’s Boogie,” hinted at the musical tornado to come. “I put that little thing in it,” he told Rolling Stone in 1970 of the way he tweaked with his gospel roots. “I always did have that thing, but I didn’t know what to do with the thing I had.”

During this low point, he sent a tape with a rough version of a bawdy novelty song called “Tutti Frutti” to Specialty Re-cords in Chicago. He came up with the song’s famed chorus — “a wop bob alu bob a wop bam boom” — while bored washing dishes. (He also cow-rote “Long Tall Sally” while working that same job.)

By coincidence, label own-er and producer Art Rupe was in search of a lead singer for some tracks he wanted to cut in

New Orleans, and Penniman’s howling delivery fit the bill. In September 1955, the musician cut a lyrically cleaned-up ver-sion of “Tutti Frutti,” which became his first hit, peaking at 17 on the pop chart. “Tutti Frutti really started the races being together,” he told Roll-ing Stone in 1990. “From the git-go, my music was accepted by whites.”

“Long Tall Sally,” hit Num-ber Six, becoming his the high-est-placing hit of his career. For just over a year, the musi-cian released one relentless and arresting smash after another. From “Long Tall Sally” to “Slippin’ and Slidin,’” Little Richard’s hits – a glorious mix of boogie, gospel, and jump blues, produced by Robert “Bumps” Blackwell — sound-ed like he never stood still.

With his trademark pom-padour and makeup (which he once said he started wearing so that he would be less “threat-ening” while playing white clubs), he was instantly on the level of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and other early rock icons, complete with rabid fans and mobbed concerts.

“That’s what the kids in America were excited about,” he told Rolling Stone in 1970. “They don’t want the false-

hood — they want the truth.” As with Presley, Lewis and other contemporaries, Pen-niman also was cast in early rock and roll movies like Don’t Knock the Rock (1956) and The Girl Can’t Help It (1957).

In a sign of how segregated the music business and radio were at the time, though, Pat Boone’s milquetoast covers of “Tutti Frutti” and “Long Tall Sally,” both also released in 1956, charted as well if not higher than Richard’s own ver-sions. (“Boone’s “Tutti Frutti” hit Number 12, surpassing Little Richard’s by nine slots.) Penniman later told Rolling Stone that he made sure to sing “Long Tall Sally” faster than “Tutti Frutti” so that Boone couldn’t copy him as much.

But then the hits stopped, by his own choice. After what he interpreted as signs – a plane engine that seemed to be on fire and a dream about the end of the world and his own damnation – Penniman gave up music in 1957 and began attending the Alabama Bible school Oakwood Col-lege, where he was eventually ordained a minister. When he finally cut another album, in 1959, the result was a gospel set called God Is Real.

His gospel music career floundering, Little Richard re-turned to secular rock in 1964. Although none of the albums and singles he cut over the next decade for a variety of labels sold well, he was welcomed back by a new generation of rockers like the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan (who used to play Little Richard songs on the piano when he was a kid).

When Little Richard played the Star-Club in Hamburg in the early ‘60s, the opening act was none other than the Beatles. “We used to stand backstage at Hamburg’s Star-Club and watch Little Richard play,” John Lennon said later. “He used to read from the Bi-ble backstage and just to hear him talk we’d sit around and listen. I still love him and he’s one of the greatest.”FAST FORWARD….

In the years before his death, Little Richard, who was by then based in Nashville, still performed periodically. Onstage, though, the physi-cality of old was gone: Thanks to hip replacement surgery in 2009, he could only perform sitting down at his piano. But his rock and roll spirit never left him. “I’m sorry I can’t do it like it’s supposed to be done,” he told one audience in 2012. After the audience screamed back in encourage-ment, he said – with a very Little Richard squeal — “Oh, you gonna make me scream like a white girl!”

Little Richard was inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and also received a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award

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The ReelBy Audrey J. Bernard

Tribeca Film Festival teams with YouTube to raise funds for COVID-19NEW YORK, NY – One of

the most celebrated global film events is the annual

Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) that has earned the respect of discerning moviegoers and has shaped the careers of many people in the film industry. The annual awards ceremony has “evolved into a destination for creativity that reimagines the cinematic experience and explores how art can unite communities.”

TFF brings visionaries and diverse audiences together to celebrate storytelling in all its forms, including film, TV, VR, gaming, music, and online work. With strong roots in independent film, TFF is a platform for cre-ative expression and immersive entertainment. Ordinarily, the festival would have taken place April 15-26, 2020 in New York City, is being rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ironically, TFF was created in 2001 following the attacks on the World Trade Center by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff to invigorate the economic and cultural revitaliza-tion of lower Manhattan. Now in its 19th year, TFF faces yet another grim challenge with the COVID-19 pandemic.

With festivals being cancelled over the pandemic, Film Festivals from around the world including TFF, Sundance and the BFI Film Festival, are set to join forces for a huge YouTube live stream event – We Are one: A Global Film Festival — to raise funds for coronavirus relief efforts. The on-line event will stream on YouTube on May 29, 2020, with festivals including Berlin, Cannes, Toronto and Venice taking part and the funds raised going to the World Health Organisation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and others.

De Niro and Rosenthal are hoping that the online event “unites curators, artists and sto-rytellers to entertain and provide relief to audiences worldwide.” Rosenthal added: “We often talk about film’s uniquely powerful role in inspiring and uniting peo-ple across borders and differences to help heal the world.”

The Tribeca Film Festival, presented by AT&T, announced the winners for the 2020 juried competition, awarding top honors from this year’s program. TFF has continued its commitment to celebrating storytellers.

The Half of It was honored with The Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature; The Hater for Best International Nar-rative Feature; and Socks On Fire for Best Documentary Feature. Shorts awards went to No More Wings for Best Narrative Short; My Father The Mover for Best Documentary Short; Friends for Best Animated Short and Cru-Raw for the Student Visionary Award. The Nora Ephron Award went to director Ruthy Pribar for her feature, Asia. The award was created seven years ago to honor excellence in storytelling by a

female writer or director who embodies the spirit and boldness of the late filmmaker. The full list of films and filmmakers honored are highlighted below.

“We are fortunate that technol-ogy allowed for our jury to come together this year to honor our filmmakers,” said TFF Co-Found-er and CEO Jane Rosenthal. “Despite not being able to be together physically, we were still able to support our artists, which has always been at the heart of the Festival.”

“While we are not yet able to celebrate these incredible films at their premieres, we are so proud to celebrate them in partnership with our generous jurors through our 2020 Tribeca awards,” said Festival Director Cara Cusuma-no. “The jury chose to recognize a daring, innovative, entertaining, diverse group of films and film-makers, and the Festival is pleased to honor all of them with our first ever virtual awards ceremony.”

Tribeca’s Art Awards, in part-nership with CHANEL, honor winners in select categories with original pieces from ten world-class artists, a tradition since the Festival’s beginning. This year’s selections were curated by notable gallerist Vito Schnabel.Winners of the juried awards, presented by AT&T; Art Awards in partnership with CHANEL; Tribeca X, sponsored by PwC; and the jury participants are as follows:

U.S. Narrative Competition Categories:The jury comprised of Cherien Dabis, Terry Kinney and Lucas Hedges awarded the following:Founders Award for Best Nar-rative Feature – The Half of It, directed by Alice Wu.• Jury Comment: “The film is so charming, it’s so energetic, it’s so fun, it’s so well-paced, it’s directed with such a sure hand, it’s a really confident film and the characters are really well drawn and the actors were fantastic.”• Art Award: Julian Schnabel’s Le Scaphandre et le Papillon, 2007. Oil on map.

Best Actress in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film – Assol Abdullina, Materna.• Jury Comment: “Assol just has so much compelling energy; her emotions ran so deep…we cared about her dilemma.”

Best Actor in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film – Steve Zahn, Cowboys.• Jury Comment: “Steve showed great range in playing this char-acter.”

Best Cinematography in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film – Ma-terna, Greta Zozula, Chananun Chotrungroj, Kelly Jeffrey, Cin-ematographers.• Jury Comment: “The visuals were striking and played with color, light and dark, in a very interesting way.”• Special Jury Mention for Cine-

matography: My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To.

Best Screenplay in a U.S. Nar-rative Feature Film – Cowboys, Anna Kerrigan, Screenwriter.• Jury Comment: “A beautiful portrait of a father and his trans-gendered son.”

International Narrative Com-petition Categories:• The jury comprised of Sabine Hoffman, Judith Godrèche, Danny Boyle, William Hurt, and Demián Bichir awarded the following:Best International Narrative Feature – The Hater (Poland), directed by Jan Komasa.• Jury Comment: “Incredibly rel-evant for today; we were really impressed by the way it portrayed a character that is not immediately empathetic but really got us into the journey and the story.”• Art Award: Helen Marden’s January Golden Rock, 2020. Watercolor on paper.• Special Jury Mention: Ainu Mosir

Best Actor in an International Narrative Feature Film – Noe Hernandez, Kokoloko (Mexico).• Jury Comment: “For his raw and brave performance, taking a giant leap of faith, hand-to-hand with his director.”

Best Actress in an International Narrative Feature Film – Shira Haas, Asia (Israel).• Jury Comment: “Her face is a never-ending landscape in which even the tiniest expression is heart-breaking; she’s an incredibly hon-est and present actress who brings depth to everything she does.”

Best Cinematography in an International Narrative Feature Film – Asia (Israel), Daniella Nowitz, Cinematographer.• Jury Comments: “We were impressed with how the cine-matography was supporting the emotionality of the story and was allowing us to really deeply feel with the characters.”• “Very simply and beautifully done.”Best Screenplay in an Interna-tional Narrative Feature Film – Tryst With Destiny (India, France), Prashant Nair, Screenwriter.• Jury Comments: “How cleverly conceived and executed this script was!” “Beautifully made film.”

Documentary Competition Categories:The jury comprised of Yance Ford, Regina K. Scully, Ryan Fleck, Chris Pine, and Peter Deming awarded the following:

Best Documentary Feature – Socks on Fire, Bo McGuire, Director.• Jury Comment: “The film used new techniques woven into docu-mentary filmmaking and narrative storytelling.”• Art Award: Sterling Ruby’s DRFTRS, 2020. Collage, paint and glue on paper.

• Special Jury Mention: Wonderboy

Best Cinematography in a Doc-umentary Film – 499, Alejandro Mejia, Cinematographer.• Jury Comment: “The filmmakers did an incredible job of weaving this fictional story into what’s happening today with the disap-peared and to marry such grand visions that cinema can only do.”

Best Editing in a Documentary Film – Father Soldier Son, Amy Foote, Editor.• Ju ry Comment : “Such a well-crafted film from start to fin-ish; a story that stays with you.”

Best New Narrative Director Competition:The jury comprised of Lukas Haas, Juno Temple, Nat Wolff, Grace Van Patten, and James Ponsoldt awarded the following:

Best New Narrative Director – Nobody Knows I’m Here, Gaspar Antillo, Director.• Jury Comment: “A film that felt vital and alive, and every time we thought we knew who the protag-onist was or what the world was it evolved and revealed more of itself to us.”• Art Award: Rita Ackermann’s The Working Woman 3, 2018. Oil, crayon and graphite on paper.

Best New Documentary Direc-tor Competition:The jury comprised of Erin Lee Carr, Stacey Reiss, Josh Hutch-erson, Joel McHale, and Gretch-en Mol awarded the following:Albert Maysles New Documen-tary Director Award – Jacinta, Jessica Earnshaw, Director.• Jury Comments: “Incredibly engaging filmmaking,” “very moving, beautifully done.”• Art Award: Gus Van Sant’s Achelous and Hercules, 2016. Enamel on paper.• Special Jury mention: The Last Out

The Nora Ephron Award:The jury comprised of Gina Rodriguez, Aparna Nancherla, Anna Baryshnikov, Regina Hall, and Lizzy Caplan awarded:The Nora Ephron Award – Asia, Director, Ruthy Pribar.Jury Comment: “From the writ-ing, to the directing, to the camera moves, to the direction for the acting, to the way Ms. Pribar told a story through non-speaking was

just outstanding.”• Art Award: Pat Steir’s Untitled, 2008. Oil, pencil, ink, and acrylic on paper.• Special Jury Mention: My Won-derful Wanda

Short Film Competition Cat-egories:The jury comprised of Pamela Adlon, Kerry Bishe, Kasi Lem-mon, Taylor Hackford, and Marshall Curry awarded the following:

Best Narrative Short – No More Wings, Abraham Adeyemi, Director.• Jury Comments: “It checked every box in terms of authentici-ty, and heart, and it was funny!” “It’s such an elegant piece of filmmaking.”• Art Award: Robert Nava: Medu-sa’s Walk, 2020. Acrylic, oil stick, crayon, and pencil on paper.• Special Jury Mention: Soup

Best Animated Short – Friends, Florian Grolig, Director.Jury Comment: “Gorgeous, sparse, monochromatic anima-tion.”• Art Award: Stephen Hannock’s Wallsend Morning on the River Tyne, 2019. Oil on board• Special Jury Mention: Kapae-mahuThe jury comprised of Asia Kate Dillon, Marti Noxon and Sheila Nevins awarded the following for the 2020 Short Documentary and Student Visionary Compe-titions:

Best Documentary Short – My Father The Mover, Julia Jansch, Director.• Jury Comment: “A “movement” film which frees people from the pain had the biggest impression on us and lasted through the trag-edies we’re going through now.”• Art Award: Francesco Clem-ente’s Flag US, 2018. Watercolor and miniature on paper.• Special Jury Mention: Welcome To A Bright White LimboStudent Visionary Award – Cru-Raw, David Oesch, Director.• Jury Comment: “It’s rare to see in a student festival something very real with a great Macabre climax that’s really sticky.”• Art Award: Vahakn Arslanian’s Light of Airbus, 2009. Graphite on paper in artist’s frame.• Special Jury mention: The Last Ferry From Grass Island

Tribeca founders Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro with Oprah Winfrey (Picture Getty Images)

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By Audrey J. Bernard Flick chatAll Day and a Night

By Dwight Brown Guest Scribe

There is an earnestness to this deeply felt urban tale that seems personal,

sincere and insular. Unfortu-nately, that guarded sense is not enough to make this cliché narrative, about a troubled young man headed down the wrong path, more than just another sad song.

Jahkor Abraham Lincoln (Ashton Sanders, “Moon-light“) is a product of the mean streets of Oakland, California. His mom nurtures her young adult son when she can, but gives equal attention to his volatile father JD (Jeffrey Wright). Dad’s quick temper and criminal activities have kept him behind bars or on his way there most of his life.

Can’t blame Jahkor for struggling to find direction. The hopeful part of him wants to be a rapper. The grim part gets caught up in a thug life involving rival gangs and mur-der. At a trial the mother-in-law of a homicide victim says to him, “You say you knew my son-in-law, but you won’t say how.” He responds to her only with inner thoughts like: “Peo-ple say they want to know why, but they really don’t.”

Oakland was the setting for the gentrification drama “Blindspotting,”a searing in-dictment of the rich moving in and the poor moving out. The S.F. Bay city was also the location of the tragic dra-ma “Fruitvale Station,” an award-winning examination of racism and police malfeasance.

“All Day and a Night” does not run that deep in scope. Its claustrophobic feel, with depictions of homes, close-up street scenes and prison yards and scant images of the city, does not pan out.

It’s hard to get a feel for Oakland. Impossible to get a glimpse of anything outside the perimeter of a tight-knit community. If you’re looking for a global message or a city view there are none. Instead the film rests entirely on the validity and accessibility of one young man’s sheltered existence, and that experience does not resonate the way it should.

Jahkor only smiles when

he’s freestyling at a mic or romancing his baby mom-ma Shantaye (Shakira Ja’nai Paye). Otherwise ill-fated gloom colors his poor choices. There’s so much misery in his life that his perpetual angst becomes a turnoff and any

redemption seems too little too late.

Hard to determine why Writer/Director Joe Robert Cole’s script is so entrenched in bleakness. Cole is the co-writer of Black Panther and has been a writer on the

American Crime Story series. Surely, with that pedigree, he knows how to create engaging, challenging storylines with solid moments of hopefulness and atmosphere that makes a crime/drama feel real. So why this?

As a director, Cole sets the scenes up and lets them go where they may. If drama or chemistry doesn’t show up, there is no remedy. Nor does his direction exhibit a visual style that would make the footage stunning. If Cole attempts this kind of film again, he should re-watch John Singleton’s “Boyz n the Hood” or check out some of Sidney Lumet’s NYC films (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead) to get a better grasp of how filmmakers can capture urban spirit, explore the environment and use it as a canvas to convey a vibrant city vibe to audiences.

The musical score (Michael Abel) is putrid and Jahkor’s raps are lame—he’s no Jay-Z. The camerawork (Jessica Lee Gagne) fails to turn potentially evocative locations into indel-ible images. While the editing (Mako Kamitsuna) exasperates lethargic pacing and doesn’t make confusing back-and-forth flashbacks any more discernible.

The tech crew gets a save from Kay Lee’s production design, Alex Brandeburg’s set decoration and Antoinette Messam’s costumes, which are fairly realistic. Ashton Sanders was a vision as Chiron in the classic, Oscar-winning film “Moonlight.”

There is something about his look and demeanor that is mesmerizing. The rest of the cast is sufficient and pro-fessional, though one perfor-mance towers above the rest. Jeffrey Wright’s take on JD, fatherly but incorrigible, is fluid, raw and explosive. Only a few actors can get this primal. Only the chosen can be great with less-than-great material. He’s a rare breed.

The landscape for urban dramas, told from a Black per-spective, will be full in coming weeks. Films like “Blue Story” (London) and “Charm City” (Baltimore) are on the horizon and boast lively rhythms, elec-tric casts and creative swag. Joe Robert Cole continues to establish his presence as a filmmaker and hopefully his next venture will benefit from the lessons he’s learned from directing his second feature film. Visit NNPA News Wire Film Critic Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com and BlackPressUSA.com.

Ashton Sanders and Shakira Ja’nai Paye

Ashton Sanders and Jeffrey Wright

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Rejoice Harlem! Leading arts institution presents a virtual gala celebrationHARLEM, NY – The

COVID-19 crisis has dev-astatingly affected the arts

community which relies heavily on the generosity of donors and corporate sponsors to keep their doors open and art alive! The historic Harlem Stage is one such organization and like so many other performing arts centers is facing economic challenges like never before.

For over 35 years Harlem Stage has been one of the na-tion’s leading arts organizations achieving this distinction through its work with artists of color and by facilitating a productive en-gagement with the communities it serves through the performing arts. Steeped in rich Black his-tory, the premium arts institu-tion bridges Harlem’s cultural legacy to contemporary artists of color and dares to provide the artistic freedom that gives birth to new ideas.

Due to the cancellation of their annual spring gala, their most critical fundraiser of the year, Harlem Stage is facing a significant revenue gap that could undermine their ability to continue the mission they have so proudly championed for more than 35 years. As a result, the celebrated uptown performing arts venue is going viral!

On Monday May 18, 2020 at 7:00pm, Harlem Stage will host an online premiere celebration on Facebook and Instagram in place of its anticipated annual spring gala. Themed Celebrating Har-lem Stage, the online event is a tribute to artists, activists, and creators, and celebrates Harlem Stage’s more than three decades as an institution known for com-missioning and presenting new, innovative work that reflects and responds to the complex condi-tions that shape the lives of artists and communities of color.

Celebrating Harlem Stage will be hosted by award-win-ning Broadway, television and film actor LaChanze, produc-er, director, and award-win-ning actor Tamara Tunie, and award-nominated, rising Broadway actor Celia Rose Gooding who will respond to live comments through-out the event. In addition, LaChanze will receive the Harlem Stage Artist Award and Celia Rose Gooding will receive the Harlem Stage Transformative Artist Award. Viewers can see new and ar-chival musical performances by legendary rock star Nona Hendryx fresh off the heels of her multi-sensory WaterWorks commissioned performance at the Metropolitan Museum of Art this spring. Also featured will be jazz pianist, composer, and MacArthur Genius Jason Moran, jazz and hip-hop star José James, Harlem Stage Wa-terWorks artist Jason ‘Timbuk-

tu’ Diakité, and other musical guests. The gala will feature special appearances by MSN-BC host and anchor, Joy Reid, dance legend Bill T. Jones, stars of television and film Claire Danes, Hugh Dancy, hip-hop pioneer, Fab 5 Freddy, and star of television and film, Tate Donovan, among others.

“The closure of performing arts venues due to COVID-19

has been difficult for artists, administrators, stakeholders and for audiences. This online celebration will showcase our mission to a wider audience and hopefully raise the criti-cal funds needed to continue to support visionary artists of color whose daring works in-spire and uplift our community and our world” said Patricia Cruz, Executive Director of

Harlem Stage.Donations are welcome

to ensure the continued exis-tence of Harlem Stage and its ability to discover, support, and commission works by vi-sionary artists of color, and present those works at low, or no cost, to the community.

Major support for this event is provided by Manhattan Beer Distributors, Stavros Niarchos

Foundation, JPMorgan Chase & Co., WarnerMedia, LLC/HBO, SESAC, and others. The event can be viewed on Harlem Stage’s Facebook and Instagram channels. For more information on Harlem Stage contact Julia Marrero at jmarrero@harlemstage.org. To donate, please click: DO-NATE NOW. (Photos courtesy Harlem Stages)

Theater talk By Audrey J. Bernard

Nona Hendryx Joanne Chase, Pat Cruz

Celia Rose Gooding LaChanze Tamara Tunie Joy Reid

Harlem Stage Gatehouse Jason ‘Timbuktu’ Diakité (Credit Ulf Berglund)

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Banton, Legend drop "Memories"Posted By Don Thomas

GRAMMY Award-win-ner and multiple Bill-board Hot 100 chart

topping artist and International Reggae Singer, Buju Banton, releases the first single from his album Upside Down his first full-length studio project in a decade.

“Memories,” places Ban-ton with Multi-GRAMMY Award-winner, John Legend. It marks the second time the artists have collaborated, having worked on Legend’s spring 2009 release, “Can’t Be My Lover.”

Banton appeared at Madi-son Square Garden for a live performance of the song with Legend a few months after its release. “Memories” was writ-ten by Buju, Steven “Lenky” Mardsen and Producer Dona-van Germain.

“Things change, people change, time changes but good friendship and memories will never change. This is another special one with my good friend John” says Banton. “I was so excited to collaborate with Buju on another song. He’s an icon, and this song is another classic,” says Legend.

Banton returns to the world-wide stage following his per-formance at Kingston’s Na-tional Stadium. The Long Walk

to Freedom Concert was one of the biggest music events in Jamaica’s history and was the

launching pad for the tour of the same title.

Buju’s announcement that

he had signed with Roc Nation followed by releasing two brand-new songs “Steppa”

and “Trust” and accompanying music videos energized his global audience.

Andre Harrell, a veteran music executive best known as the founder of Uptown Records, where Sean “Puffy” Combs got his start in the business, who later went on to head Motown Records, has died. He was 59. A native New Yorker, Harrell started his career in music as an artist, one-half of the early rap duo Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, whose single “Genius Rap” was a minor hit in 1981. In 1983 Harrell teamed with Russell Simmons, the founder of Def Jam Records, and had one of his early experiences in the business working as a vice president and later GM of the label. News of his passing first began to reach the public when DJ D-Nice revealed it while spinning on Instagram Live for his popular Club Quarantine series. The New York Times subsequently reported that Harrell had died at his home in West Hollywood, California, and that his ex-wife, Wendy Credle, had given the cause of death as heart failure, nothing that “he had heart problems for some time.”

Disc chat

Legendary R&B/Soul Singer Betty Wright has died at the age of 66, according to her niece. Her cause of death has not been revealed, but fans and friends, including Chaka Khan, have been asking for prayers for her for nearly a week, implying she was gravely ill.Born Bessie Regina Norris in Miami, Florida, in 1953, she began as a gospel music singer in a family band before be-ing discovered in the early ‘70s through such hits as “Clean Up Woman” and “Where is the Love,” for which she won a GRAMMY Award for Best R&B song in ‘72. Wright won a number of GRAMMY nominations over the years, and was described by her record company Universal Music as an artist who “influenced a generation of female singer-songwriters and continues to influence the world of Hip Hop.”

Buju Banton and John Legend

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Sports

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Play Ball!By Andrew Rosario

Spring training was moving along entering the month of March. Two weeks lat-

er and after the NBA shut down their season, Major League Baseball closed all of its spring training facilities. Soon af-ter that, commissioner Rob Manfred announced opening day would be cancelled with no date established when that first pitch would be thrown. With the Coronavirus/Covid19 pandemic taking thousands of lives in this country alone and with social distancing being emphasized, it is not sure when sporting events will resume. When it dose, there is a very good chance that no fans will be in attendance.

The Chinese Profession-al Baseball League (CPBL) kicked off April 12th and the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) and Nippon Profes-sional Baseball (NPB) began earlier this month. The games were played with cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands. That is not the only organized sport that will have to played in that type of environment. The English Premier Soccer League which was shut down in March is set to resume June 1st. This upcoming weekend, Bundesliga and their second tier team from Germany will play in empty stadiums. La Liga from Spain are looking at June 12th to reboot their season. Italy’s team Series A have been cleared to practice May 18th but they have yet to establish a date to resume their season. The gov-ernment shut down the France season all together two weeks. This after the Dutch Eredivisie did the same thing. The death toll in Italy due to the virus as of this past Monday is more than a

horrific 31,000, France’s death rate has exceeded 26,000. Here in the United States the death rate has almost doubled those figures to the tune of more than 81,000.

It is why Manfred and the powers that be from MLB have been hesitant to set a date to the return as America’s Pastime. What has been discussed is what the league might look like when the games resume. No matter what they decide, one thing is for sure: The traditional 162 games will not be played. One scenario has a North, South and East divi-sion where all games would be played in Florida. The other division would have the Northeast, West and Northwest playing games in Arizona. This plan would eliminate the regular American and National Leagues as fans have come to know them. For this sea-son anyway. The postseason format would be changed as well. First, two more wild card teams would be added increas-ing the number of postseason teams from 10 to 14. The top seeds would get a first round bye while the remaining di-vision winners and wild card

would face each other in a best 3 series. The proposed changes did not get positive respons-es from Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer or Phillies shortstop Didi Gregorious. Bauer blasted Manfred saying “your proposal is absurd for to many reasons,” he began. “You have abso-lutely no clue about baseball. “You’re a joke.” Gregorious reply wasn’t as harsh. “Why are we changing this lovable sport so much,” he asked.

Whatever changes that will be made have to be approved by both MLB and the Players Association. MLBPA President Tony Clark issued a statement saying in part, “expanding the playoffs in a sensible way is something worth discussing.”

With most cities undergo-ing mass social distancing and people being told not to leave their place of residence for fear of contracting or spreading the virus, there is a very strong possibility that when games resume, the fans will not be allowed to attend. At this, point realignment of the teams and what the playoffs look like is not among the fans main con-cerns. They just want to hear these two words: Play Ball!

Not Even COVID-19 Can Stop the UFC

By Andrew Guzman

Wi th near ly every mainstream sport furloughed, UFC

249 offered up some much need athletic entertainment. It was one of the organization's best cards to date, featuring a lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson (25-4) and Justin Gaethje (22-2) and a bantamweight championship bout that saw Henry Cejudo (16-2) and Dominick Cruz (22-3) square off. Other no-table fights included Donald Cerrone and Anthony Pettis and Francis Ngannou vs. Jair-zinho Rozenstruik. Fans were not allowed inside the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, FL to watch the fights.

In the co-main event, Ceju-do defeated Cruz via technical knockout (TKO) in the second round by landing a perfectly placed knee to his opponent's head. This win solidifies Cej-

duo—who is an Olympic gold medalist, and a UFC champion in both the flyweight and ban-tamweight division—as one of the greatest mixed martial artists. At 33 years old, Cejudo feels that he's accomplished all he can and, to much surprise, announced his retirement.

Going into the main event, Ferguson, who was riding a 12-fight win streak, was a -190 betting favorite. Up-and-comer Justin Gaethje had other plans, however. Before the fight, Gaethje was known as a tough-as-nails brawler. Against Ferguson, he was a thoughtful technician; he managed his range beautifully, countered plenty of shots, and used an-gles to land against the very dangerous El Cucuy. At 3:29 in the fifth round, referee Herb Dean stepped in to save Fergu-son. Gaethje was up by four rounds at that point—there was no point in letting Ferguson keep taking damage. He was beaten—plain and simple.

Manfred Optimistic For Baseball in 2020Photo: Special to the NY Beacon

Harsh Words From BauerPhoto: Special to the NY Beacon

Gaethje (R) Rocks Ferguson Shocks UFC WorldPhoto: Special to the NY Beacon