Mid May 2020 News.

Now, Dr. Fauci has issued a caution against states who want to open up prematurely. Trump has publicly disagreed with him. Dr. Anthony Fauci gave his testimony to the Senate hearing on Tuesday. Fauci said that a rapid reopening could increase cases so much, that that problems could cause a possible 2nd lockdown. There probably won't be a new vaccine or antiviral treatment on August or September of 2020. Trump wants to get the country open as soon as possible. The problem with Trump's argument is that we have to use real science in constructing a cogent solution. In other words, if credible scientific experts want to use caution involving this virus, caution is the prescription that we should diligently execute in formulating real solutions. Dr. Rick Bright is the ousted former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. This is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. He told Congress that if wise decisions that deal with a coordinated national response aren't implemented, America may face a terrible winter involving the outcome of the spread of the pandemic. Right now, over 300,000 people have passed away from the virus worldwide. There are over 4.4 million cases worldwide. We know that economic inequality is driving the coronvarius cases too. Like always, people internationally (with expertise and leadership involving complex medical conditions) ought to paramountly utilize their resources in fighting this invisible enemy of a virus.

NYC (an in many places of America) have always had civil liberties issues. One video (shown by Dr. Rebecca Kavanagh, Professor Eddie S. Glaude Jr., and other people) shows a young woman with her toddler being escorted by NYPD officers. The woman and her toddler have masks on. They walk up the subway. The police forced her to the ground and handcuffed her in Brooklyn. Yet, in certain parts of other areas of NYC parks, people don't have masks on. Statistics show that in New York City, 81% of the summons issued for violating social distancing rules from March 16 to May 5 were given to black Americans and Hispanic people (Yet, Black people and Hispanic people make up 53% of NYC's population). The police said that she wasn't wearing her masks properly. This is totally wrong on the part of the cops. It shows that we have a long way to go in establishing justice. Later, the mother and her child left the subway without the police formally charging her. The cops involved in this injustice should be fired ASAP.


I want to mention this information. It is always important for us to be educated on black American history and the history found of the African Diaspora in general as found in the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, etc. Many of us are blessed to know about these things, but many people (even some in our own community) never heard of Queen Nzinga, Ella Baker, or Toussaint. Even in recent years, we are fighting for accurate historical information about American slavery to be placed in textbooks in the state of Texas. It was only recently in my state of Virginia where Lee-Jackson-Stonewall Day was banned, because it celebrated Confederates. That is why young people and adults for that matter should know about the Haitian Revolution, Mansa Musa, the Dogon people of Mali (with their excellent understanding of astronomy), the ancient civilization in Zimbabwe, and modern day heroes making excellent contributions in science, technology, literature, athletics, music, the other arts, mathematics, etc. Everyday, we are fighting for the elimination of mental colonization that originated centuries ago when our ancestors were brought into the Americas in chains. Our ancestors fought to end the Maafa. We salute them. In Brazil, Afro-Brazilians now are in the struggle for their liberation too. One Afro-Brazilian judge named judge Fabio Esteves once never heard of Luis Gama (who was an Afro-Brazilian man who freed 500 black slaves via the courts even though he was denied an official law school education, because he was a black man).

Even with a law in Brazil mandating teachers to teach African and Afro-Brazilian history in the school system, some teachers don't comply with the law. Yet, in the past decades, many Afro-Brazilian people are teaching Afro-Brazilian people plus others about real black history. One young schoolteacher and Afro-Brazilian woman named Perla Santos created a card game named Bafo Afro. This game teaches students on Afro-Brazilian history in the city of Porto Alegre. The cards show images of Afro-Brazilian heroes and heroines. Perla Santos teaches at the Mario Quintana Municipal Elementary School. Many heroes on the cards are Dandara, Zumbi dos Palmares, Teresa de Benguela, Andre Reboucas, and Jose do Patrocinio among other human beings. Santos wants to increase literary and true understanding. This is certainly great news.


One of the most tragic stories of our time is the recent killing of a young black woman named Breonna Taylor. She was a hero who was an EMT worker. She saved lives constantly in her occupation. Now, she is gone physically. She died at her own Louisville, Kentucky home. The police executed a messed up search warrant. They forced their way in the home. They surprised Taylor and her boyfriend. Later, 20 shots were fired in the apartment. Taylor was shot eight times by the police. The police were in plainclothes with unmarked vehicles. Taylor was unarmed and did nothing wrong. In fact, Taylor wasn't even the home with drugs. This story hasn't been shown much in the mainstream media, but it has been shown a lot in the Internet including social media. We want accountability and justice.

Rest in Power Sister Breonna Taylor.