• Health and Wellness

by Derek Major

July 17, 2020

31 Percent of Children In Florida Have Tested Positive for Coronavirus

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Thirty-one percent of children in Florida have tested positive for the new coronavirus, worrying health officials who say that the long-term effects of the virus in children are still unknown.

According to The Grio, Florida is quickly becoming the new epicenter of the pandemic. More than  327,241 citizens have been infected and 4,805 have died. More than 20,000 residents are currently hospitalized. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently blamed the media last month saying it stopped asking him about the coronavirus in May.

As DeSantis continues to push for schools to open just over a month from now, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel notes Dr. Alina Alonso, Palm Beach County’s health department director, said even asymptomatic children are experiencing lung damage as a result of the coronavirus.

“We don’t know how that is going to manifest a year from now or two years from now,” Alonso told county commissioners on Tuesday. “Is that child going to have chronic pulmonary problems or not?”

Medical researchers are finding the coronavirus can develop into a condition called pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome. So far, there have been 13 confirmed cases of the syndrome in the state.

“We are learning something every day,” Dr. Jorge Perez, who operates Kidz Medical Services, a chain of pediatric offices across South Florida, told The Grio. “We have to be knowledgeable about this and continue to monitor to see what effects it has on children.”

The Trump administration has been pushing for a return to school for children despite coronavirus numbers growing across the country. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Thursday school reopenings this fall shouldn’t be contingent on the science surrounding coronavirus.

 “The president has said unmistakably that he wants schools to open. And when he says open, he means open in full, kids being able to attend each and every day at their school.” McEnany said. “The science should not stand in the way of this,” she added, saying it is “perfectly safe” to fully reopen all classrooms.

BuzzFeed reported teachers in many states are considering quitting, rather than returning to classrooms to teach and risking their lives. Even more concerning is that many school districts, especially in metro areas, don’t have the space needed to socially distance children or the funds necessary to give schools a thorough cleaning every day.

• Lifestyle

by Selena Hill

July 17, 2020

BET to Air Police Reform Special Hosted by Soledad O’Brien, Featuring Nancy Pelosi, Ayanna Pressley, and More

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Emmy Award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien will host a BET news special next week about the national call to defund and reform police institutions triggered by the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

Titled American Injustice: The Fight for Police Reform, the BET News special will address this pivotal moment in the fight for police reform and discuss how supporters can move from protests to progress. The program will cover a range of topics, including the status of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, the Defund the Police movement, the power of police unions, police chokeholds, no-knock warrants, and the fight over qualified immunity, states a press release.

During the program, O’Brien will interview several political leaders, law enforcement officials, and activists, including U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Karen Bass, Rep. Cedric Richmond, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors. They will discuss the proposed police reform legislation stalled on Capitol Hill and what needs to be done to transform the way communities of color are policed.

According to the news release, over 1,000 people are killed by police every year in the U.S., while Black people are three times more likely to be killed than White people. “George Floyd’s tragic death at the hands of Minnesota police seemed to mark a tipping point, as millions of protestors in the United States and around the world, took to the streets to call for urgent and bold reforms to address the legacy of racially biased policing and misuse of force,” it reads.

The program, which is part of BET’s “Content For Change” initiative announced last month, will air Wednesday, July 22, at 11:00 PM ET/PT on BET and BET HER.

Supermodel and businesswoman Tyra Banks has found a new stage on which to strut her stuff. Starting this fall she’ll be the host and executive producer of ABC’s long-running reality competition Dancing With the Stars.

“I’ve been a fan of ‘DWTS’ since its beginning … The fun mixed with raw emotion, seeing celebrities push past their comfort zones, the sizzling dance performances … it’s always transported me to my days of turning it up 10 notches on the catwalk,” Banks said in a press release. “I’m excited to continue the legacy and put on my executive producer and hosting hats.”

Banks will be the first solo host, and also the first Black female host, in the 28-season history of the show.

“I like breaking those doors down so that we don’t have any more firsts. But it’s nice to be first, right, so that you can open that door and let so many more people in after you,” Banks told Good Morning America.

So excited to be hosting and producing the new @DancingABC. There’s so much legacy. Can’t wait to bring the fierce, the fun and the SMIZE. 💛 @GMA https://t.co/6pFAmNr7ST

— Tyra Banks (@tyrabanks) July 15, 2020

“As we gear up for the show’s 29th season, we can’t wait to welcome Tyra Banks to our ‘Dancing’ stage. Tyra is an award-winning multihyphenate whose fierce female prowess and influence across many industries have made an indelible mark,” said Karey Burke, president, ABC Entertainment, in a press release.

“Tyra Banks is an icon whose powerful presence, trademark confidence, and industry-leading achievements inspire us,” Valerie Bruce, general manager, LA Productions, BBC Studios, said in the same release. “This represents a landmark moment … as we take this iconic show in a new creative direction.”

Banks’ bio notes that she has “a long list of firsts, prestigious awards, and business and educational endeavors,” having been the first Black model on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition in 1996. She’s been named one of The Hollywood Reporter’s 100 Most Powerful Women in Entertainment, Entertainment Weekly’s 25 Smartest in Television, Glamour‘s Women of the Year, and Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World—twice.

The former model most recently hosted America’s Got Talent. She’s also the creator of America’s Next Top Model and has two Daytime Emmy awards for her talk show, The Tyra Banks Show.

Since 2017, Banks has served as a visiting professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, sharing her expertise in personal branding. Her newest venture, ModelLand, is a “first-of-its kind experiential company that combines immersive theater, experiential shopping, and playful culinary delights.” The opening of the 22,000-square-foot flagship location in Los Angeles has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

• Health and Wellness

by Dana Givens

July 17, 2020

How Rwanda Is Curbing COVID-19 Cases Using Advanced Technology

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The COVID-19, or novel coronavirus, pandemic, has caused a global shift causing numerous countries to develop new strategies to protect their citizens and keep their economy from collapsing.

While Western Europe and the United States have been dealing with rising cases and struggling to contain the outbreak, other countries have been utilizing new technology and enforcing new guidelines to protect their communities. The East African country of Rwanda has become a world example of how to efficiently keep cases low.

As of this writing, four coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in Rwanda, which has had only over 1,400 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic—one of the lowest in the world. One reason is free COVID-19 testing being made readily available to everyone, especially to those most vulnerable. It is common to see a team on the street asking people if they want a free test.

“So whenever someone is driving a vehicle, bicycle, motorcycle, or even walking, everyone is asked if you wish to get tested,” Sabin Nsanzimana, director general of the Rwanda Biomedical Center, said in an interview with NPR. “All these samples are sent that day to the lab [here in Kigali]. We have also six other labs in the other provinces.” According to Nsanzimana, the government spends between $50 to $100 on a single COVID-19 test.

The country also utilizes advanced technology such as robot nurses to deal with the increase in new patients. According to CNN, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) donated six robots to the Kanyinya treatment center in the capital city of Kigali that will be used for services like mass temperature screenings, monitoring patient status, and maintaining patient records.

“These robots will perform temperature screening in our treatment centers,” Dr. Daniel Ngamije, Rwanda’s minister of health told CNN. “The robots will detect people walking in not wearing masks so that with the voice, the command post can quickly be informed and respond.”

Impossible Foods has announced that it is collaborating with Colin Kaepernick and his Know Your Rights Camp to support food security and social justice throughout 2020.

The partnership between Impossible Foods and the Know Your Rights Camp commenced last week at the Cornerstone Missionary Baptist Church in the Bayview district of San Francisco, in conjunction with San Francisco Marin Food Bank and Al Pastor Papi food truck.

The initiative will have Impossible Foods donate to subsequent Know Your Rights Camp engagements in Los Angeles and New York, with more cities to be announced at a later date.

“Gaining access to healthy and affordable food should not be a challenge for residents of any community,” said Patricia Robinson, Director of Community Outreach, Know Your Rights Camp. “Know Your Rights Camp is committed to participating in changing the outcomes and disparities that currently exist for families, while we further grow awareness and acknowledge that maintaining good health and nutrition should not be selective for some, but should be experienced by all.”

Know Your Rights Camp is a program based in several cities that plans to advance civil rights through education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilization, and leadership. The organization was founded by Kaepernick who played for the San Francisco 49ers and gained worldwide attention by kneeling during the national anthem to protest social inequality and police brutality. He started the camp in 2016.

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Impossible Foods has provided relief to over 750,000 people who were experiencing the need for food. The company is on track to donate plant-based meat to feed at least 1 million people this year.

Impossible Foods began donating plant-based meat to food banks in 2018. After the coronavirus hit the states in March, the company started donating 10,000 pounds of plant-based Impossible Burger on average per week. They distributed it during the spring and early summer to help nourish the communities most affected by COVID-19, including people suffering from hunger and front-line medical workers and first responders.

After decades of fighting for the freedom of Black Americans, civil rights leader Rev. Cordy Tindell “C.T.” Vivian died on Friday at 95 years old.

Confirming his death, Vivian’s daughter, Kira Vivian, described her father as “the sweetest man,” reports CNN. “He was so loving. What a loving dad. He was the best father throughout my entire life.” She added that he passed away at his Atlanta home of natural causes.

Vivian was born in Boonville, Missouri, on July 30, 1924. He moved to Macomb, Illinois, with his mother and grandmother in 1930 and graduated from Macomb High School in 1942. He briefly attended Western Illinois University before leaving to work at the Carver Community Center as assistant boy’s director in Peoria. There, he met his wife, Octavia, and participated in his first non-violent, lunch counter sit-in protest in 1947, according to the National Visionary Leadership Project.

In 1955, Vivian enrolled in American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, believing that there was a direct tie to civil rights, faith, and ministry. “Racism is a moral issue,” he said.

That same year, he helped create the Nashville Christian Leadership Conference, an affiliate of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference that helped organize the city’s first sit-ins and civil rights march. Vivian also participated in the Freedom Rides and worked alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

In 1965, the civil rights titan was appointed as the director of national affiliates for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference where he helped registered voters in Selma, Alabama. He went on to become the Senior Pastor of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Ebenezer Baptist Church and founded the National Anti-Klan Network, an anti-racism and Ku Klux Klan watch-dog group in 1970 that was renamed as Center for Democratic Renewal. Vivian is also noted for creating a college readiness program with the goal of helping “take care of the kids that were kicked out of school simply because they protested racism.”

In 2008, Vivian founded the C.T. Vivian Leadership Institute, which is dedicated to creating “a model leadership culture for the purpose of training and educating the new generation of grassroots leaders,” reports NBC News.

He was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in 2013 by then-President Barack Obama.

Following the passing of the beloved activist, the Rev. Al Sharpton released a statement, saying “The passing of C.T. Vivian should cause us all to pause and celebrate the life and sacrifice of this giant,” NBC News reports. “He made this nation and world a better place. RIP, my friend.”