Category: African-American

Essence Magazine:

Some things you can’t make up. Like the fact that Ohio state Sen. Steve Huffman, a Republican, questioned whether the higher rates of the coronavirus in the “the colored population” was due to those populations not washing their hands as well as other groups…during a hearing on whether to declare racism a public health crisis, nonetheless, the Dayton Daily News reports.

“My point is I understand African-Americans have a higher incidence of chronic conditions and it makes them more susceptible to death from COVID. But why it doesn’t make them more susceptible to just get COVID,” Huffman, who is an emergency room physician asked a witness during the hearing before the Senate Health Committee on Tuesday. “Could it just be that African-Americans or the colored population do not wash their hands as well as other groups or wear a mask or do not socially distance themselves? That could be the explanation of the higher incidence?” he said.

The witness, Ohio Commission on Minority Health Director Angela Dawson was able to respond professionally noting that, “That is not the opinion of leading medical experts in this country,” and emphasizing that the virus is more dangerous to those with chronic conditions.

However, the president of the Black Caucus, Stephanie Howse, was quick to call out Huffman, particularly given his status as a doctor and the known disparities that Black Americans face in every system, including with medical care.

“He highlights what racism is from a systematic perspective. He’s a full legislator but beyond that, professionally, he’s a doctor. When we talk about the health disparities that happen because Black folks aren’t believed when they’re actually hurt, they aren’t given the treatment that they need,” Howse noted. “Do you think that someone who acknowledges the ‘coloreds’ is going to give the love and care that people need when they come through those doors?”

Huffman, for his part, claimed that his question was misunderstood.

“I was trying to focus on why COVID-19 affects people of color at a higher rate since we really do not know all the reasons,” he said.

The post Ohio Senator Asks If ‘Colored Population’ Impacted More By COVID Because They Don’t Wash Hands Well appeared first on Essence.

Essence Magazine:

Donald Trump is leaving his bunker at the White House and getting back on the road to campaign for another four more years as the President of the United States. On Wednesday his re-election committee announced that he would be headed to Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 19 to host his first rally since declaring a national state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The crowd is likely to draw thousands which is concerning medical professionals who still warn of ongoing spread amid a deadly health outbreak. Dr. Anthony Fauci notes that the pandemic is just in its beginning stages, projecting that another 100,000 Americans may lose their life to the virus before September. But while the health implications are concerning, others are deeply offended by the campaign’s decision to hold a MAGA rally, in a place that is most often associated with domestic terrorism carried out by those who hold beliefs akin to much of Trump’s core base.

Tulsa, Oklahoma, 99 years ago, was the site of the Tulsa Race Massacre. The all-out assault on Black lives and Black wealth has never been atoned for and barely recognized as an attempted racial cleansing. In addition to the location’s history, the significance of the date, June 19, also sends a message. Juneteenth marks the date federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation that had been issued by President Abraham Lincoln two-and-a-half years prior. In the United States Juneteenth is celebrated as African-Americans’ Independence Day.

LOUISVILLE, KY – JUNE 05: Protesters carry signs, some deriding president Donald Trump during a march through downtown on June 5, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. Protests across the country continue into their second weekend after recent police-related incidents resulting in the deaths of African-Americans Breonna Taylor in Louisville and George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

The Trump campaign’s decision to reinvigorate his reelection efforts on a national holiday dedicated to Black lives, in a place that decimated Black life during a time of heightened racial tensions, does not appear to be coincidental. Congressman Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts tweeted, “99 years ago a white mob massacred hundreds of Black people in the Greenwood District of Tulsa. The most racist President of my lifetime knows exactly what message he’s sending when he goes there on Juneteenth.” California Sen. Kamala Harris echoed his sentiments tweeting on Thursday, “This isn’t just a wink to white supremacists—he’s throwing them a welcome home party.”

A Washington Post-Ipsos poll conducted in January found that 83 percent of African-Americans believe Trump is a racist and has exacerbated the country’s race problems during his tenure. That was before the impeached president called peaceful protesters denouncing police brutality, “thugs,” before Pence invited Candace Owens to the White House to have a roundtable on race relations, before it was reported that known white supremacist Stephen Miller would be penning a national address on race in America, and before Trump’s campaign announced that they would be holding a rally in Tulsa on Juneteenth.

The post Trump Sends Dog-Whistle To Base With Tulsa Rally On Juneteenth appeared first on Essence.

Essence Magazine:

As the grandchild of a civil rights activist, Porsha Williams recently revealed that her first experiences with racism happened at the tender age of 6 years old.

The Real Housewives of Atlanta said on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live earlier this week that she and her grandfather, Hosea Williams, were chased by members of the Ku Klux Klan at a Georgia protest. 

“I was about 6 years old when I went to my first march,” Williams said. “I was excited to go. You know, as a little kid, you finally get to go to work with your granddad.”

Not long after arriving, Williams said she was literally “smacked in the face with racism.”

“We came across Ku Klux Klan who decided they were going to protest our protest. They threw rocks at us and I actually got hit with one. They chased us all the way back to our buses,” Williams said.

The KKK did not just confront the peaceful protesters with physical violence, they spouted verbal violence at them as well. 

“They called us the n-word and any other word you could imagine the KKK would be calling us,” Williams added. 

Today, the traumatic event fills Williams with pride and makes her “feel empowered” by participating. 

“I didn’t understand it [at the time]. So of course after that there was a conversation with my dad when I got home, to let me know that, ‘Some people do hate you, even though you may be trying to do a good thing,’” she said. “But what I got out of that is to keep going regardless. I never saw my grandfather stop. I never saw my dad stop, and the movement is still continuing on.”

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My VIBE I said I LOVE being black /cuz it’s the skin that I’m in / I love the texture of my hair / and I Rock it everywhere! Don’t be a GO VOTE everyone !!! Make them hear , see you , feel you! That’s the selfie I wanna see today ! #GoVote #MyVoteMatters #BlackLivesMatter

A post shared by #PorshaWilliams (@porsha4real) on Jun 9, 2020 at 8:26am PDT

Williams is continuing the movement by participating in the Atlanta protests that have taken place since the murder of George Floyd. She shared video footage from a non-violent demonstration held earlier this month, when she and her fiancé, Dennis McKinley, had tear gas unleashed on them by local police officers as they were peacefully marching. 

During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the reality star and mother of one said the experience hadn’t discouraged her from fighting.

“Yes, I took some gas and to my eyes and I had to have milk and water poured in my face,” she confirmed. “Listen, I’m alright, I’m alright…everyone else who’s out there fighting the good fight, they will also be alright, but it has to be known, it has to be demanded, that we are able to peacefully protest. It is the voice of the people.”

“The message that we have is not going to die. It’s not. George Floyd will not have died in vain. Breonna Taylor will not have died in vain, and the other people who have been victims of police brutality will not have died in vain,” Williams added.

The post Porsha Williams Reveals She Was Chased By The KKK At 6 Years Old appeared first on Essence.

Essence Magazine:

Three months after officers from the Louisville Metro Department broke into Breonna Taylor’s apartment with a battering ram and fired multiple shots into the home, ultimately killing the 26-year-old, the department has finally decided to release the incident report. According to the Courier-Journal, the incident report that was, for all intents and purposes, blank.

The news site details that the incident report is roughly four pages long, but many important details—including the story about what happened the night officers killed Taylor—were left essentially empty.

Taylor was shot at least eight times after officers barged into her apartment on March 13, however, the incident report listed her injuries as “none,” even as the weapon is listed as a handgun.

Although officers used a battering ram to knock down Taylor’s apartment door, the “no” box under “forced entry” was checked.

Under “bias motivation,” the report says “NONE (NO BIAS).”

And, as the Courier-Journal notes, the most frustrating part is that the “narrative” section of the report, which is supposed to have detailed what happened that night, is also left nearly blank, with only the words “PIU investigation” written.

In fact, the only things included in the report are the incident’s time, date, case number and location, as well as Taylor’s full legal name, her age and her race and ethnicity. The description of the charges read death investigation—LMPD involved. The names and ages of the officers involved in her shooting were listed under the “offenders” portion of the report. (Sgt. Jon Mattingly, 47; Myles Cosgrove, 42; and Brett Hankison, 44 have still not been arrested or charged in the incident and are actually on administrative reassignment pending an investigation.)

Breonna Taylor Incident Report by Courier-Journal on Scribd

The rest of the report is unfilled, sparking harsh backlash from officials.

“It’s issues like this that erode public confidence in LMPD’s ability to do its job, and that’s why I’ve ordered an external top-to-bottom review of the department,” Mayor Greg Fischer said in a statement on Wednesday night calling the report “unacceptable.” “I am sorry for the additional pain to the Taylor family and our community.”

The police department released its own statement, saying that they are working to correct the report, which they said was made by a reporting program creating a paper file.

Nonetheless, the Courier-Journal is suing the LMPD for the immediate release of the department’s investigative file into the shooting. So far, the department has refused to do so, citing an ongoing investigation.

The post Breonna Taylor Was Shot At Least 8 Times, Police Report Lists Her Injuries As ‘None’ appeared first on Essence.

Essence Magazine:

Jas Waters, best known for being a staff writer on This Is Us and Kidding, has died. She was 39.

The news was confirmed by the NBC series. A statement shared on Twitter Wednesday read: “The entire #ThisIsUs family was devastated to learn of Jas Waters passing. In our time together, Jas left her mark on us and ALL over the show.”

“She was a brilliant storyteller and a force of nature,” the somber statement continued. “We send our deepest sympathies to her loved ones. She was one of us. RIP @JasFly.”

So far, there’s no word on the writer’s cause of death.

The entire #ThisIsUs family was devastated to learn of Jas Waters passing. In our time together, Jas left her mark on us and ALL over the show. She was a brilliant storyteller and a force of nature. We send our deepest sym>@JasFly. pic.twitter.com/cmrh2OO8of

— ThisIsUsWriters (@ThisIsUsWriters) June 10, 2020

Waters began her career in entertainment as a hip-hop journalist, writing for Vibe among other publications. Throughout her decades-long career, she also lent her talents to the Taraji P. Henson-led film, What Women Want.

Many in the hip-hop community remembered Waters on social media. Here are just a few tributes to the late journalist and writer:

I will miss you and will see you soon. RIP @JasFly

— Low (@LowKeyUHTN) June 10, 2020

If you are in the industry, you know @JasFly … a motivating energy and dope woman in hip-hop. Today hurts

— Sowmya Krishnamurthy (@SowmyaK) June 10, 2020

Rest In Peace @JasFly Truly a Brilliant Soul

— RAVEN B. (@RAVIEB) June 10, 2020

Sending my condolences to the family & friends of @JasFly

— Karen Civil (@KarenCivil) June 10, 2020

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Waters’ family and friends at this time. May she rest in peace.

The post ‘This Is Us’ Writer Jas Waters Dead appeared first on Essence.

Essence Magazine:

At an alarming rate COVID-19 has affected at least 2 million people, making medical supplies including mask and gowns hard to come by. During the beginning of the crisis, essential workers along with citizens had a hard time finding protective material, and some online orders were backed up for months. No one would’ve guessed at the beginning of March that the entire world would be dealing with a pandemic yet, here we are. Most cities are getting ready to implement plans to open up however wearing a mask is almost mandatory everywhere you go.

With the scarce number of supplies, a few Black designers have stepped up by providing masks to alleviate the shortage. Last month, Kerby Jean-Raymond used his Instagram platform to announce his plans for providing aid to Covid-19 victims. The Brooklyn-based creator turned his New York studio into a donation center and granted small businesses with financial support, while independent brand

The post 20 Black Designers Providing Effective Face Masks appeared first on Essence.

Essence Magazine:

It’s hard believing it’s only been a little over two weeks that George Floyd brought America to its knees. The video clip of his May 25 arrest and murder ignited massive Black Lives Matter marches from Seattle, Washington to Perth, Australia.

Floyd’s unlawful death—along with the racially motivated killings of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor—became the tipping point of globally dismantling systemic racism. Conversations around race relations are at a fever pitch, from protest rallies to podcasts.

According to the weekly newsletter “Hot Pod,” it states that “podcasts about race, or featuring race as a primary theme, have bubbled up its ranks” on the charts of Apple Podcasts. One look at the chart today, the New York Times 1619 podcast from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, sits at number 1. The series, which is the digital component to the 1619 Project, is an extensive examination of how slavery has impacted America until today. (If you haven’t listened to the five-part series, do so immediately.)

Amanda Seales, host of Small Doses with Amanda Seales / photo courtesy of subject

Other podcast voices digging deep on racial injustice right now include Amanda Seales, Rebecca Carroll, Shereen Marisol Maraji and Gene Demby from NPR’s Code Switch and DeRay McKesson from Pod Save the People. Below are 10 episodes we’ve tuned into examining America’s 401-year-old problem with race. Take a listen.

1. NPR’s Code Switch episode — A Decade of Watching Black People Die

2. Jemele Hill Is Unbothered episode — John Legend, Polite Raunch

3. Small Doses with Amanda Seales episode — Uprising, A Small Doses Forum

4. What Matters episode — #SayHerName, a Conversation with Tamika Mallory and the Taylor Family Attorney Lonita Baker

5. The Nod episode — We’ve Been Here Before

6. The United States of Anxiety episode — ‘I Did Not Watch the Video’

7. Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air episode — Thoughts on George Floyd and the Virus of Racism in America

8. Truth Be Told episode — Protesting for the Soul of America: The New Civil Rights Movement

9. Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay episode — The Importance of Nationwide Protests Over George Floyd’s Death

10. Pod Save the People episode — Keep the Fight with Justine Barron and Amelia McDonell-Parry

The post 10 Podcasts Examing America’s 401-Year-Old Problem With Race appeared first on Essence.

Essence Magazine:

Ever the outspoken pundit, Harvard professor Cornel West went on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show on Tuesday night and did not hold back. During a segment on defunding the police, West unloaded on civil rights attorney and frequent Fox contributor Leo Terrell.

The sparring match started after Hannity opened up the conversation by rattling off a few of the headlines that deal with extreme cases of police interactions with protesters. He then asked West if he supports “this madness” of defunding the police.

West started his response by recognizing the heaviness of the day, stating that hours before the segment, George Floyd was laid to rest in Houston two weeks after his death at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers. He went on to say that he believes police interactions with protesters and within communities boils down to respect. 

“You have to have police who respect the community,” West asserted. “There has to be some community control, accountability of both citizens and police and recognizing that the deeper issues of poverty, dilapidated schools, housing, shattered families, communities, not enough jobs with a living wage — that generates a despair that the police do have to come to terms with. But there has to be democratic control over the police.” 

Hannity countered with an oft-used Republican talking point, saying that the majority of liberal cities have for decades been run by democrats who have allowed the education systems to decline. West concurred in the case of Chicago’s former mayor Rahm Emanuel, of whom he says he was not a critic. But he also stated that it goes beyond that. 

WATERLOO, IA – FEBRUARY 1:Academic Cornel West, a supporter of Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, speaks during an event with local campaign volunteers at a field office located in a residence on February 1, 2020 in Waterloo, Iowa.On the penultimate day of campaign before the Iowa Caucus, Democratic Presidential candidates and their supporters are traversing the state to greet prospective voters.(Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)

When Hannity looked to Terrell to get his take on Democrat-run cities and where they’ve “failed America’s children,” Terrell focused his response on West saying that the professor won’t answer Hannity’s question because he’s just interested in “giving old talking points.” After Terrell told West he wanted to speak to him “Black man to Black man” the segment went completely left.

West asked Terrell what his talking points are and showed disdain over the fact that the attorney had chosen to “disrespect” him on the day “Brother Floyd is put in his grave.” At one point West asked Terrell who he was tied to, and questioned, “Who do you think you are my brother?” The show had completely gone off the rails by the time West told Terrll, “Check yourself negro.”

Hannity concluded the interview after Terrell asked several times for producers to cut West’s mic. Earlier in the night West appeared on Anderson Cooper where the civil rights activist shared his deep respect for the Floyd family and the Black people who have chosen love despite their oppression.

The post Cornel West Unloads On Sean Hannity And Fox News Guest appeared first on Essence.

Essence Magazine:

Taking her talents to TikTok, Lizzo shared some receipts with people who consistently hate on her body. The takeaway: She loves her body and doesn’t care if you don’t.

The singer, who is known for openly embracing her curves, debunked the myth that full-figured women don’t exercise. In a series of video clips, she shares her various workout methods, which including cycling, doing squats and jumping rope.

“So I’ve been working out consistently for the last five years,” Lizzo says in her narration of the video, “and it may come as a surprise to some of y’all that I’m not working out to have your ideal body type. I’m working out to have my ideal body type. And you know what type that is? None of your f–king business. Because I am beautiful, I am strong, I do my job and I stay on my job.”

Preach, sis!

Lizzo is 100% that BITCH and she did not stutter y’all better put respect on her namepic.twitter.com/dB9oo9vVvZ

— K I E R A (@quackquackhoes) June 10, 2020

Lizzo then went on to put the body-shamers, who assume she’s unhealthy because of her weight, in their place: “So next time you want to come to somebody and judge them—whether they drink kale smoothies or eat McDonald’s or work out or not work out—how ’bout you look at your own f–king self and worry about your own goddamn body. Because health is not just determined on what you look like on the outside. Health is also what happens on the inside, and a lot of y’all need to do a f–king cleanse for your insides. Namaste. Have a great day.”

Lizzo exudes confidence not only on social media but also through her music. Songs like “Truth Hurts” and “Soulmate” talk about her decision to love herself unconditionally and not needing permission from the outside world to do so. In her ESSENCE digital cover story interview, Lizzo doubled down on herdecision to embrace the parts of herself that mainstream society has deemedimperfect.

“I love creating shapes with my body,” she said. “I love normalizing the dimples in my butt or the lumps in my thighs or my back fat or my stretch marks. I love normalizing my Black-ass elbows. I think it’s beautiful.”

We stan an unapologetic queen!

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