FORMER SEC. OF STATE COLIN POWELL
HOW COLIN POWELL’S DEATH
SHOWS VALUE PROTECTING
YOUR ELDERS WITH COVID SHOT
By Cash Michaels
An analysis
When it comes to the death of former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell earlier this week, due to complications from COVID-19 though his family assures that he was fully vaccinated, the anti-vaxxers have it all wrong.
Indeed, Sec. Powell’s death is a cautionary for other elderly members of the Black community as to why it is important to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, health experts say, especially if you are between your 60s and 80s.
But Powell’s death underlines a key lesson for how Black, Hispanic and other communities of color can better protect the eldest of their families. By minimizing the number of COVID-19 unvaccinated people around the elderly, you lessen the opportunity for the infection to hurt that elder family member, especially if they don’t normally leave their abode.
That means not only that all family members around the elderly should be vaccinated, but elder family members should be prioritized to better protect them, because they are most likely to be already suffering from a serious disease that is already comprising their immune system (their ability to fight off serious infection).
Yes, Colin Powell, at age 84, died of complications from the coronavirus, says his family. And yes, Powell was fully vaccinated, his family confirms.
But, as was in the case of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who, at age 80, was hospitalized in Chicago a few weeks ago with complications from COVID-19 though fully vaccinated, Sec. Powell, because of his age, was vulnerable to what are known as “breakthrough” infections because of his underlining declining health. In Powell’s case, he was already suffering from multiple myeloma (blood cancers), which can reduce the body’s ability to fight off infections.
There is also one more difference between Sec. Powell, Rev. Jackson, and the average elder in a family of color - Powell and Jackson traveled long distances more often, thus exposing them to varying degrees of infections depending on what city they were in, even during the pandemic.
In her tribute to Sec. Powell, Vice Pres. Kamala Harris recalled just seeing, and speaking with him a recent official dinner.
And Rev. Jackson has famously continued to take part in various protest marches across the nation until his recent hospitalization slowed him down.
According to an article in The Wall Street Journal from July 2, 2021:
First, vaccines aren’t 100% effective. Not everyone who is inoculated will respond in the same way. Those who are elderly or whose immune systems are faulty, damaged or stressed by some other illness are less likely to mount a robust response than someone younger and fitter. COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective but some people will still be vulnerable to the virus even after receiving their shots.
Second, the risk of dying from COVID-19 increases steeply with age. If a vaccine reduces an 80-year-old’s risk of death from COVID-19 by 95%, for instance, that 80-year-old’s risk of death might still be greater than the risk faced by an unvaccinated 20-year-old. Some chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension and lung disease are also associated with a higher risk of severe illness and death.
Third, as more of the population gets vaccinated, there are fewer unvaccinated people for the virus to infect. If the pool of vaccinated people is larger than the pool of unvaccinated people, then it is possible and even likely that breakthrough infections resulting in death in the older, vaccinated group would match or exceed deaths in the younger, unvaccinated group. Consider an imaginary country with 100% of people vaccinated, where the virus can still somehow spread. All COVID-19 deaths would be in vaccinated individuals.
To argue, as some have, that the COVID-19 vaccine did not adequately protect Colin Powell from dying, is to argue that he had zero chance of dying in spite of the vaccine.
A person suffering from cancer, diabetes, or a bad heart is still likely to die because of those maladies. If they catch coronavirus at an elder age, the likelihood of them dying is more probable, because they are more vulnerable.
But if they are vaccinated, again, based on what their health condition is to start,along with their age, the likelihood of death is not as certain.
Thus, protecting the elderly as much a possible from possible COVID-19 infection, which includes making sure all in the same household or environment are fully vaccinated, is the best policy.
As stated in The Washington Post Monday:
It seems inevitable in this moment that Powell’s death will prompt new indifference to the vaccine, as though his death somehow proves that the vaccines don’t work. The lesson we should learn instead is that the vaccines work best when they work broadly and that, had Powell been protected both by the vaccine and by low rates of infection in his community, he might still be alive.
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BLACK HISTORYMAKERS MOURN
DEATH OF SEC. COLIN POWELL
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
The first Black American ever to serve as U.S. secretary of State, Colin Powell, 84, was lauded by other Black political pioneers for his leadership after his untimely death was announced Monday.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the first African-American ever to hold the office, said in a statement:
Secretary Colin Powell dedicated his life defending our nation. As National Security Adviser, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, and secretary of State, he was an independnt thinker and a barrier breaker who inspired leaders in our military and throughout our nation.
Secretary Powell served our nation with courage, unwavering in his belief in its principles and its promise. The son of immigrants, Secretary Powell rose through the ranks of the United States Army. He was a decorated veteran and devoted patriot.
The legacy that he leaves behind - on America’s national security and on the leaders he mentored - can be seen every day across our nation and the world.
Former President Barack Obama issued a statement saying:
Years ago, when he was asked to reflect on his own life, General Colin Powell described himself as “first and foremost a problem-solver.” It was true, of course. But he was far more than that.
General Powell was an exemplary soldier and an exemplary patriot. He was at the center of some of the most consequential events of our lifetimes – serving two decorated tours in Vietnam; guiding U.S. strategy in the Gulf War; serving as National Security Advisor, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of State; offering counsel to four presidents; and helping shape American foreign policy for decades. Everyone who worked with General Powell appreciated his clarity of thought, insistence on seeing all sides, and ability to execute. And although he’d be the first to acknowledge that he didn’t get every call right, his actions reflected what he believed was best for America and the people he served.
Along the way, General Powell helped a generation of young people set their sights higher. He never denied the role that race played in his own life and in our society more broadly. But he also refused to accept that race would limit his dreams, and through his steady and principled leadership, helped pave the way for so many who would follow. It was the way Colin Powell saw the world – not as a starry-eyed idealist, but as someone with deep and abiding faith in this country and what it stands for – that made him such a central figure.
Also on Monday, from the current U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, the first African-American in American history to hold that post:
I was informed earlier of the loss of Colin Powell and I want to express my deepest condolences to Alma, his wife, his son Michael, and the entire Powell family.
The world lost one of the greatest leaders that we have ever witnessed. Alma lost a great husband, and the family lost a tremendous father. And I lost a tremendous personal friend and mentor. He has been my mentor for a number of years. He always made time for me and I could always go to him with tough issues. He always had great counsel.
We will certainly miss him. I feel as if I have a hole in my heart, just learning of this recently.
He was the first African-American chairman of the Joint Chiefs, first African-American Secretary of State and a man who was respected around the globe. Quite frankly, it is not possible to replace a Colin Powell. We will miss him.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and we are deeply, deeply saddened to learn of this.
According to Wikipedia, “Colin Luther Powell (April 1937 to October 2021)was an American politician, diplomat, statesman, and four-star general who served as the 65th U.S. Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005., and the first African-American to do so. Prior to the election of Barack Obama, as president in 2008, he and his successor, Condoleezza Rice were the highest-ranking African Americans in federal executive branch history (by virtue of the Secretary of State standing fourth in the presidential line of succession. He served as the 16th U.S. National Security Advisor from 1987 to 1989 and as the 12th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993."
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NEW NC VOTERS PROJECT
SEEKS TO ADD 100,000 FOR
THE 2022 ELECTIONS
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
In the world of GOTV (Get Out The Vote), no name in modern times shines brighter than Stacey Abrams of Georgia.
Abrams, a former Georgia state representative and Democratic candidate for governor in 2018, founded a voters’ rights nonprofit group called the New Georgia Project, which in turn pushed a number of voter registration efforts in order to increase Georgia’s voter rolls, particularly in black and other diverse communities.
Just prior to the 2020 presidential elections, Abrams founded yet another nonprofit known as Fair Fight, which not only registered new voters, but educate them on the pressing issues.
The results - 800,000 new Georgia voters were brought to the process; Democrat Joe Biden won the traditionally conservative red state over incumbent Republican Donald Trump; and even more importantly, two Democrats, Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Osoff, unseated two Republican incumbents give Pres. Biden the 50 Democrats he needs to get any of his agenda done.
Dr. Aimy Steele agrees that there is much to be learned from Stacey Abram’s kingmaker success in Georgia, and she hoping that some of that “Black Girl Magic” will rub-off right here in North Carolina in time for the 2022 elections.
Last week, Dr. Steele and her team kicked off “The New North Carolina Project (NNCP),” an ambitious effort, modeled after the Abrams’ effort in Georgia, to register more than 100,000 eligible voters of color for the 2022 midterm elections, increase early voter turnout by 50 percent, and register 90 percent of North Carolina eligible voters by 2030.
And the key to the NNCP’s projected success, Executive Director Steele says - field organizing - something that wasn’t done very well by Democrats in 2020.
“I think the best way to do that is to invest in communities of color, insure that these communities thrive by organizing long-term infrastructure,,” Steele told MSNBC October 15th.
“We plan to really engage people from communities of color in the work [of organizing] their communities, hire and train them, and really educate them on really exercising their power, and their right to vote,” Dr. Steele continued.
“No longer is it OK to just assume that these groups of color are monolithic, and are going to vote a certain way. We really have to get out there and organize.”
So who is Amiy Steele, and why doe she want to take this massive undertaking on?
The Texas native is a former Spanish teacher, K-12 school principal, mother of five and pastor’s wife of 21 years who, s a child moved to North Carolina in 1993 from Japan (her father was in the Army). She graduated high school , and attended UNC-Chapel Hill or three years before transferring to UNC-Charlotte.
In 2018, Steele came within less than 2,000 votes from unseating a republican incumbent for NC House District 82. In 2020, Steele lost another close race for the state House representing Concord.
Steele’s key mission, she says is creating #voters for life. According to th
NNCP website, despite North Carolina’s record breaking voter turnout for the November 2020 elections, “…large fractions of eligible voters of all races n ethnicities did not vote , including more than half of eligible Latinx and indigenous voters, more than forty percent of Asian-American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters, and a third of black voters. In fact, nearly one million eligible voters of color did not vote (in North Carolina) in 2020.”
Per the 2020 North Carolina elections, analysts report that Democrats let their guard down by not going door-to-door to canvass neighborhoods, especially in rural areas, because o the COVID-19 pandemic.
But Republicans did, in addition to promoting early voting and mail-in balloting. The 2020 result was a GOP bloodbath of Democratic candidates, except for incumbents Gov. Roy Cooper and state Atty. Gen. Josh Stein.
Steele doesn’t want to see communities of color count themselves out of important elections again. Thus, the New North Carolina Project.
“We’re here to build a year-round community organizing infrastructure,” she assured the News and Observer.
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STATE NEWS BRIEFS
NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES DISCUSSES 1619 PROJECT AT UNC-W NOV. 2
[WILMINGTON] Pulitzer Prize winning NY Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones will be appearing at UNC-Wilmington to discuss her controversial 1619 Project on Nov. 2 at 7:30 as part of the annual Writers Week event. The appearance is ironic given that Hannah-Jones turned down a belated tenure offer several months ago from the UNC Board of Trustees after it as revealed that conservative political influence kept her from receiving it months earlier from teaching at the UNC- Chapel Hill School of Journalism.
GRAVE OF 1898 MASSACRE VICTIM DISCOVERED OF RANKIN STREET
[WILMINGTON] After 123 years, one of the first graves of a black 1998 race massacre victim has been discovered off Rankin Street in an unmarked grave in Pine Forest Cemetery off Rankin Street. The discovery of the body of Joshua Halsey was made by the nonprofit Third Person Project. The 1898 Commemorative Foundation will give Halsey a formal funeral on Nov. 6th. The public is invited to attend.
FEDERAL COURT RULE THAT UNC-CHAPEL HILL CAN CONTINUE TO USE RACE IN ADMISSIONS POLICY
[CHAPEL HILL] A federal judge has ruled that UNC-Chapel Hill does not discriminate in the use of race of it’s undergraduate admissions policy, and may continue to do so. The decision was made after a trial which ended most a year ago in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District in Winston-Salem. “While no student can or should be admitted to this University, or any other, based solely on race, because race is so interwoven in every aspect of the lived experience of minority students, to ignore it, reduce its importance and measure it only by statistical models… misses important context to include obscuring racial barriers and obstacles that have been faced, overcome and are yet to be overcome,” Judge Loretta Biggs wrote in her opinion.
The decision will be appealed to the Fourth U.S. Circuit of Appeals, vows the plaintiffs in the case, Students for Fair Admissions.
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