Author: Carma Henry

     Yes, your vote does matter. Those opposing the Governor are counting on Democrats, mostly people of color in California, not returning their ballots in a failure to vote. Governor Newsom has made mistakes, but so have others. He has been concerned and is concerned about human life while others are more worried about keeping businesses open, regardless of how many people die.

Virginia’s voters will pick the state’s next governor in November. The choice couldn’t be clearer, and neither could the national implications of this race in a bellwether state.  Not only is the Virginia election a curtain-raiser for the midterm elections of 2022, it’s also the biggest test so far of whether the Trumpified GOP can win major races.

Dr. James E.K. Hildreth, a member of the White House COVID-19 Equity Task Force and a Food and Drug Administration member, empaneled to approve Covid vaccines, demurred when asked whether schools should reopen before children vaccinated. “The short answer is, for most places, in my opinion, it is not safe because mask mandates are not in place,” Dr. Hildreth responded.

      In yet another indication that Black America was being left behind by the country’s economic recovery, the jobs report for August showed that Black unemployment last month rate surged while joblessness for every other group fell.

     A former district attorney has been charged with misconduct in the case of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man fatally shot last year by two white men while jogging in a Georgia neighborhood.

Roughly 1,000 schools nationwide have already shut down in-person classes at some point for the fall semester amid surges in COVID-19 cases and battles over mask mandates, according to a data tracker.

 Fifteen-year-old Florida teen, Paulinda Velasquez, spent 11 days on a ventilator after contracting Covid-19. Velasquez made a statement to CNN saying that she plans on getting vaccinated soon.

Frederick and Alfreda Pinkston (Fred and Freda), former longtime Broward County residents, recently celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary. The occasion, “Sixty Years of Bliss,” was held in Atlanta, Georgia where they now reside.

     The “Harlem Hellfighters” helped the US win World War I. The Black infantry unit was one of the most decorated regiments at the time, even as most of its members were met with racism and disregard upon their return home.

     It was 1865, the American Civil War was coming to a close. The south was changing rapidly and the confederate chokehold on the region was coming to an end. Former slaves from Edgecombe County in North Carolina fled slave plantations for Union Army encampments. They were seeking protection from the confederates and freedom from slavery. Not long after their arrival, Union soldiers left for the north, leaving the land to the now-freed slaves of Edgecombe County. They began to slowly build the community of Freedom Hill, incorporating the town in 1885 and naming it Princeville, the first Black town in the United States.