Wednesday, April 08, 2020

News on Early April of 2020.




Trump's response to the coronavirus has been terrible as everyone knows. When the history books are written on this time, people will definitely realize that the testing procedures, the supplies sent to people, and other acts by the Trump administration has been totally reprehensible. While this is going on, many workers are striking for better workplace conditions. Nurses lack basic masks. Many people in Amazon and other jobs desire economic justice. Trump wants to restart production as quickly as possible. The problem with that mentality is that the virus doesn't play on anyone's timeline. We have to fight it, and we have to sacrifice in order to save people's lives and our own lives in general. These workplace strikes aren't just found in America. They are found in Belgium where workers walked out of the Carrefour chain. In the UK, people from a sorting factory in Kent walked out. Postal workers in America want hazard pay.

People in the Bahamas desire better safety measures. These are just a few examples, and there are more worldwide. 2020 is a year of a new era of world history. Human life is more important than capitalist profits. Trump wanting the drug hdroxychloroquine is to be used to treat people immediately is reckless. That drug is being used in trials. Also, we know that the drug can harm the lives of people with serious heart conditions. Therefore, we have to advocate institutions and procedures to make sure that the best treatments are available in the cogent fashion. The federal government should take the lead in the response, but Trump tells states that he is the back up team. There must be a total national response to this crisis. It is important to follow the advice of expert doctors and researchers who know the complex nature of diseases and viruses. The crucial point is to save human lives. Also, it is important to recognize racial disparities of this illness. 32% of Louisiana is African American, but over 70% of the deaths in the state are black Americans. I agree with Clint Smith that black people are disproportionately dying from the virus because of decades and centuries of structural oppression, lack of access to health care, overcrowded public housing, and other structural factors. Many communities have food deserts, no health clinics, and poverty. That is why you need structural change beyond just individual solutions. This comes not from a lack of personal responsibility (as many conservatives and many Hoteps believe falsely. Black people have always been hard working people spanning thousands of years). It comes from a broken system. People have to address racial inequalities along with economic inequality in order to get solutions accomplished.

A lot of facts are known as a product of this crisis. We have both witnessed compassionate people saving human lives and a system filled with cruelty too. We know what that economic system is, and that's self explanatory. That is why it is totally unfair and wrong for taxpayers to pay trillions of dollars to benefit a few wealthy multinational corporations while giving a bare minimum to the poor including working class Americans. I find it hypocritical for people, who oppose universal health care, to ignore the plight of those recently laid off from their jobs (and losing their employment based health care in the process). We know that health care is a human right. It is a total injustice whereby regular Americans are forced to pay ca. $35,000 for COVID-19 treatments after they survived an excoriating ordeal. About half of all Americans have their health care from their jobs. There is no excuse for an administration to allow hospitals to downsize for the excuse of making more profit at the expense of human life. Many nurses have been fired for just publicizing their working conditions during this pandemic. This has been proven by Ruth Schubert or a spokeswoman for the Washington State Nurses Association. It is important to advocate for the truth. Part of that duty is to defend the honor of the general welfare.



Always maintain your independent thinking. A very long time ago, we didn't know about the truth. We didn't know about Operation Mockingbird or COINTELPRO (which is a plan organized by the FBI to harm real movements for social change). Therefore, in our walks, we have to embrace a humble attitude. A lot of people are here right now. Many folks risked their lives to show the truth. William Tyndale was murdered when he just wanted the scriptures to be translated into English. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was unjustly assassinated after he opposed the Vietnam War in public. Malcolm X was murdered after he desired to internationalize the struggle for freedom among those of black African descent including all oppressed people against what he called a Western international power structure. In my research, I found out many things over the years. I found out that people like George Washington and other folks are related to French King Charlemagne and William I the Conqueror. William I is a descendant of the Merovingians. Many U.S. Presidents are related to Charlemagne and the British Kings. That's very interesting. Yes, Barack Obama is a descendant of the French King Charlemagne obviously from his mother's side of the family. Some people think that Obama is related to the slave John Punch on his mother's side.


Yesterday was the Birthday of a late singer who transformed a genre. She lived a short life, but her legacy has been potent to inspire future artists from Audra McDonald to other talented human beings. She was Sister Billie Holiday. Her life has been shown by articles, books, and movies. Yet, the real Billie Holiday was a woman filled with the glory of talent and the apparent pain that she suffered in her life. As a jazz singer, her music resonated with Americans and people throughout the world. Lady Day was born in the soulful city of Philadelphia (that I have visited before in real life). She later lived in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood of Baltimore. Billie Holiday sang in Harlem. She performed as early as the 1930's. One of her most famous songs was Strange Fruit. This song was from a poem made by the Jewish Bronx schoolteacher Abel Meeropool. The meaning of the song was in opposition to the lynching of black Americans (which existed in the South, Midwest, and everywhere in America). She experienced more success by the 1940's. One of her greatest records was "God Bless the Child." The song is about a child, especially a black child, surviving in a cruel world. It was real, poignant, and signified the experiences of so many of our people back then and today. Her harmonies gave audiences goosebumps. We know of her ups and downs. She recorded "Trav'lin Light" in 1942 with Paul Whiteman. Fans love her distinctive voice. She was in the film New Orleans with Louis Armstrong. Her Lady Singles the Blues LP was another classic. She passed away at the age of 44 in 1959. We know about how she passed away. It is more important to recognize how she lived and her contributions to music in general. Her husband was Louis McKay. Lady Day's memory will forever be honored by us.
Rest in Power Sister Billie Holiday.

By Timothy

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