Author: Carma Henry

     Whoever did the shooting escaped the scene and is still missing. Miami police seemingly combed the scene for evidence, and took a vehicle with bullet holes in it for evidence. Police are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to a suspect.

     “We know that for too long in too many parts of our country, Black families were blocked from burying their loved ones in white cemeteries,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) remarked. “These men and women were freed slaves, civil rights champions, veterans, mothers, fathers, workers in communities. We need to act now before these sites are lost to the ravages of time or development,” Brown concluded.

     “A range of structural inequities and systemic barriers make it much more likely that Hispanic and Black families will experience not just a single, temporary stressor, but an accumulation of multiple hardships—particularly during a period of economic instability like the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report said in part. 

This day will mark history for people of color and women as Vice President, Kamala Harris, goes into office!

      Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has been nominated by President-elect Joe Biden to be a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The announcement came hours after it was reported Thursday that Biden tapped former South Carolina Senate candidate Jaime Harrison to lead the DNC.

Coronavirus Report: January 19, 2021

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) a pandemic. The world was alerted to the magnitude of the spread of an infectious agent that was first identified and described in Hubei Province, China. Meat and animal markets in Wuhan, its capital city, are thought to be the original transmission points of the virus.  Despite extensive efforts to trace its origin, there has been no official declaration regarding the source of this disease agent. What is important, is that WHO had recognized and declared that the entire world was in the grips of a new and deadly respiratory illness.

After 10 months of wrestling with the global COVID-19 pandemic and seeing infections continue to rage in the U.S., there is finally reason for optimism as distribution of vaccines begins. While the initial supply prioritizes vaccination of patient-facing healthcare workers and seniors, the national goal is to vaccinate everyone as supplies increase in the weeks and months ahead.

     Beginning with the oversight of the state universities by the board of regents and continuing with the board of governors, FAMU, with its unique mission has been gradually lumped into the grouping of major state universities.  This occurred while FAMU was still being funded basically as a specialty institution, with its mission to educate blacks. Gradually the metrics of FAMU’s success became morphed into a rubric of performance funding measured against programs with exponential funding by the state.

     One of the originators of this imagination was Matt Baker. He was the first Black comic illustrator to gain national fame. Nicole, what is sad is that he never received the credit his resume deserved! The New York Times on January 15th wrote a candid article on the impact of Black comic animators.