Author: Carma Henry

The Coronavirus Pandemic, Like Other Global Catastrophes, Reveals the Limitations of Nationalism

Today, Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony provided details on what the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) is doing to ensure the safety of its personnel and the public it serves. Regarding Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Sheriff Tony explained that all deputies have PPE and if they require any extra PPE during a shift, it is provided accordingly. BSO dispatchers are asking a series of questions to identify possible COVID-19 cases before BSO arrives on the scene. That information is relayed to first responders so that they can use the appropriate PPE gear for the call. Additionally, BSO’s civilian staffers are working from home when practical and possible. All employees are screened prior to entering any BSO facility, and work areas are being cleaned on an enhanced schedule.

     We must not forget the many ways that Black bodies were used for medical experiments, from the use of Black women’s genitalia to develop gynecology through the Tuskegee syphilis studies that lasted from 1932 through 1972. Black people’s lives have too often been white people’s experiments. It is not paranoid, but merely cautious, to wonder who will get the ventilators, and whose needs will be sidelined. Now the words “Black Lives Matter” take on a more pointed meaning.

     Black Enterprise Founder and Publisher Earl G. Graves, Sr., the quintessential entrepreneur who created a vehicle of information and advocacy that has inspired four generations of African Americans to build wealth through entrepreneurship, career advancement and money management, has died. According to his son, Black Enterprise CEO Earl “Butch” Graves Jr., he passed away quietly at 9:22 p.m. on April 6, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. Graves was 85.

Lowery’s enduring legacy, I believe, is that he led the SCLC back from near death, to vibrancy and noteworthy relevance, after taking over in 1977, nine years after the King assassination, following the rocky and uncertain tenure of Abernathy’s presidency.  No one could be expected to replicate the charisma, dynamism, and eloquence of King.

     Michigan has been hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 virus. A Flint, Mich. Bishop and pastor in the area both died after recently falling ill after contracting the coronavirus. Bishop Robert Smith Sr., 83, and Pastor Kevelin Jones Sr., 72, with the Bountiful Love Ministries Church of God in Flint, both had their lives cut short by COVID-19. Both died on March 26. 

     Bill Withers, whose smooth and soulful voice brought decades of positive messages of upliftment with his award-winning music, has died, according to a report from the Associated Press. He was 81. The cause of death was attributed to “heart complications,” the AP wrote.

     “I want to use this as a teachable moment. All of that stuff with Flav and Bernie Sanders and the lawyers was all part of a plan. I wanted to see what happens when you present a bad look. And, it worked. I was trending for a bad look, and I thought that for more than 30 years, Public Enemy has given you nothing but good looks.

This comprehensive call to action is driven by a collective concern that the lack of transparency by federal and state officials is preventing public health officials from understanding the full impact of this pandemic of Black communities and other communities of color, hampering the ability to develop robust interventions, and potentially enabling further community spread.  

     Jeffrey L. Boney, a multi-award-winning writer for the Houston Forward Times and the National Newspaper Publishers Association, is in the intensive care unit at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston after being diagnosed on Friday, March 27, with COVID-19.