NC REP. ALMA ADAMS
ARRESTED DURING
ABORTION RIGHTS
PROTEST IN D.C.
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
12th District Congresswoman Alma Adams says she will be participating in future abortion rights protests in front of the U.S. Supreme Court to display her displeasure with the High Court’s recent ruling striking down Roe v Wade as a constitutional right.
The Charlotte/Meckenburg Democrat was arrested Tuesday, among about reportedly 50 others, in front of the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. during a protest of the conservative-led court’s decision.
She had tweeted earlier that she would be with the Democratic Women’s Caucus. NY Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was reportedly taken into custody a well.
Rep. Adams was not handcuffed by Capital Police.
"I'm here protesting with my colleagues and supporters who believe as I do: That women should be the ones to make that choice about what to do in the case that they may need this service," Adams told WRAL-TV.. "Shame on the Supreme Court for what they did, and we've got to continue to protest and speak out."
“This is not going to be the last protest," Adams continued.. "I'll tell you that. We're going to keep it up because it's just so important and we are all committed."
On July 15th, Rep. Adams delivered remarks on the House floor in support of abortion rights:
I rise today because I’m angry. The Supreme Court’s decision overturning the right to abortion care is fundamentally wrong.
The Supreme Court greenlit forced pregnancy, taking away the right to bodily autonomy from women. However, abortion is still health care, and people will still need to access it.
That’s why I’m supporting the Women’s Health Protection Act.In the wake of the Dobbs decision, we have a state-by-state patchwork that denies women equal protection under the law. While abortion is still legal in my home of North Carolina, the State of Texas is suing the government to compel women to carry pregnancies to term, even if it kills the mother. The Attorney General of Indiana wants to force rape victims – even 10 year old girls – to carry pregnancies to term.
We have a responsibility to stop this draconian overreach by state governments. We must make reproductive freedom the law of the land.
That legislation later passed the House, but is not expected to pass the U.S. Senate.
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NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES
WHAT HAS UNC - HANNAH - JONES
SETTLEMENT OVER TENURE
DEBACLE ACCOMPLISHED?
By Cash Michaels
An analysis
For those who thought that award-winning Black New York Times Magazine journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones deserved a six-figure check when she reportedly agreed to settle with UNC - Chapel Hill last week, instead of taking her race discrimination tenure case to court, the news that she only got somewhere in the neighborhood of less than $75,000 was probably disappointing.
But for Hannah - Jones, who publicly hadn't commented on the settlement until Tuesday, the victory over forcing the politically conservative Board of Trustees at UNC to give her the full tenure she automatically deserved upon accepting a 2021 job offer to teach at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media, only to then publicly reject it in favor of teaching at Howard University instead, wasn’t satisfying enough.
In her settlement, Hannah-Jones made sure that the school would agree to “…address racial inequity at the university,” her alma mater.
She tweeted Tuesday that her fight was never only about her.
She isn’t starving, certainly not as a high profile NYT investigative journalist, acclaimed Pulitzer Prize winner for her work on the controversial landmark 1619 Project about slavery, and position as a prestigious Knight Foundation-endowed Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism at Howard.
But the fact that the predominately white, male and right-wing UNC Board of Trustees would play games with her job offer and the tenure attached to it, was more than enough for this proud Black woman professional to decide to not allow herself, or others who looked like her, to be treated in any other way than above board and with dignity.
Last year, the board, influenced by politics and a major conservative donor, was telling, not asking Hannah-Jones, to take the job teaching at Hussman School of Journalism and Media, and at the end of five-years, they might revisit the offer of tenure.
No other scholar offered a tenured position at Hussman had ever been treated in such a manner. This Black woman was not going to allow herself to be the first. The ensuing national controversy brought charges of racism against UNC…charges that have rattled its once stellar reputation, even today.
The academic accreditation of the Hussman Journalism School was downgraded in May, and the university recently drew the condemnation of the American Association of University Professors.
Hannah-Jones was pleased with the support she got from the public, UNC students and faculty, because they all understood the issues involved.
But she was not pleased with the lack of support from the UNC - Chapel administration, which seemed to cower in the midst of the controversy.
By accepting the same position at Howard, a high-profile historically Black university (HBCU), again, as an endowed Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism after forcing the UNC Board to change course and vote to give her a tenured job offer, only to turn it down immediately for Howard, was Hannah-Jones telling them, and the world, that above all else, she knew her value.
And she wanted the students she would never get to teach at UNC, to know their value and power too, demand it, and be treated fairly.
When the announcement was made by UNC Board of Trustees Chairman David Boliek last Friday, he noted that the settlement was for less than $75,000 and was approved by UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz.
That was the highest amount he is officially allowed to make. Anything higher, the UNC Trustee Board would have to approve.
But whatever the final number was, it was not the only factor to stave off possible legal action from Hannah-Jones, her attorneys said.
What had not been reported is that the settlement agreement requires:
- an inclusive search process involving the training of 20 UNC-Chapel Hill faculty and staff to become advisers “in the development of positions, recruitment, screening , interviewing, references, evaluation and integration of new employees.
- mental health counseling, involving the posting of a position for an additional trauma-informed therapist with the Multicultural Health Program no later the July 31, 2022, and hiring a qualified applicant for this position.
- the reserving of $5,000 each fiscal year through June 30, 2025, to be available through the Provost’s Office to pay reasonable expense for meetings, events and symposia sponsored by the Carolina Black Caucus upon review and approval by the UNC-Chapel Vice Provost.
According to the attorneys with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund who represented Nikole Hannah-Jones, “…this settlement enables her to be made whole while contributing to improving the climate at the university.”
“[The settlement] ..provides Ms. Hannah-Jones with the necessary closure to put this incident behind her. No less importantly, we believe the that the settlement is a victory for the right to expression - a cornerstone of our democracy that has too frequently been infringed or ignored when claimed by Black people and people from other marginalized groups.”
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WHILE NC GEARS UP TO
BATTLE MONKEYPOX, 41
COUNTIES HAVE HIGH COVID
CASES
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
With reports of over 1,500 cases across the nation, North Carolina health officials are gearing up to deal with a serious outbreak of the monkeypox virus. At least one North Carolina U.S. senator is not pleased with the federal response to combating the disease.
Meanwhile, at least 41 North Carolina counties at last reporting, more than twice the number counties the previous week, now have have enough cases of COVID-19 to be classified in the Orange Zone, the state’s highest coronavirus designation for an increasing indication for infections and hospital cases.
As of July 15th, there were thirteen reported cases of monkeypox in North Carolina, with one of the latest cases in Rowan County, according to the Charlotte Observer. Other cases have been reported in Mecklenburg, Durham, Haywood and Wake counties.
According to the NCDHHS, the first case of monkeypox in North Carolina was identified on June 23rd in Haywood County.
As reported previously, monkeypox is a rare, potentially dangerous viral infection that can produce flu-like symptoms, swollen lymph nodes and a bumpy rash.
“Early symptoms can include fever, exhaustion and headache, and sometimes a sore throat and cough. A rash that can look like pimples or blisters appears shortly after,” says the NC Dept. of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) press release. “This happens over two to three weeks.
“The virus is spread from person to person through skin-to-skin contact, infected saliva, respiratory droplets or fluid from the lesions. These body fluids may also contaminate linens or other items that they touch. The period from exposure to first symptoms is usually seven to 14 days but can range from five to 21 days. People can spread monkeypox from the start of symptoms, before the rash forms, until the lesions crust over and heal. “
The NCDHHS directive continued - “Anyone can get monkeypox. Many of the cases in this outbreak so far have been in men who have sex with men and transgender individuals. Sex can have a lot of close skin-to-skin contact, making it a riskier activity for spreading the virus. People who have more than one sexual partner in an area or venue where monkeypox is spreading are at higher risk of getting infected. For an update on the spread of the virus, visit the CDC map of monkeypox spread. Some cases have been tied to venue and events like sex parties and saunas where intimate, often anonymous sexual contact with multiple partners may occur.”
“Testing is available through a health care provider or local health department. The State Laboratory of Public Health tests these samples. Some commercial labs and academic medical centers can also test for monkeypox including LabCorp and the Mayo Clinic. There is no shortage of testing supplies, and people with symptoms of monkeypox should go to their health care provider or a local health department to get tested.”
Thus far, there are federal government-approved vaccines for treatment that are being distributed to states to combat the virus, though there is criticism s to how effectively.
Problems have been reported. A Durham man told WRAL-TV how he was given the medical runaround for two weeks when he first suspected coming down with monkeypox on June 28th. He said a rash appeared in his mouth. “I could not eat because opening my mouth to put a fork full of food in my mouth was impossible. It was so painful.”
During that time he had 103 degree fever, night sweats, and other serious symptoms. When doctors finally examined him properly, the man indeed had monkeypox, and was treated..
Last week, North Carolina Republican Senator Richard Burr blasted the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services in a letter, charging that its response, thus far to the monkeypox outbreak across the country was “falling short.”
“The administration has the tools and authorities necessary to combat these threats. Your failures to act are a threat to public health, and especially for gay and bisexual men who are at highest risk,” wrote Burr. “The government failed this population at the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, we should not fail them again.”
On Sunday, former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CBS News that the federal government has reacted too slowly to the spread of monkeypox, allowing it to spread more than it should.
"I think at this point, we've failed to contain this,” Gottlieb told CBS’ “Face the Nation”. “We're now at the cusp of this becoming an endemic virus where this now becomes something that's persistent that we need to continue to deal with."
Go to https://epi.dph.ncdhhs.gov/cd/diseases/monkeypox.html for more information.
On the COVID-19 front in North Carolina, driven primarily by the new B.A. .5 coronavirus variant, there are now 41 NC counties - most of Eastern North Carolina - designated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as being in the Orange Zone. A week prior, there were only 18 in the state. A week prior to that, only four.
An Orange Zone county has more than 200 new COVID-19 cases per week for every 100,000 people who live there, and more than ten hospital admissions that week. In those counties, the CDC recommends people wear masks indoors, and on public transportation, regardless of vaccination status.
A Yellow Zone county is classified as having a medium level of cases, while a Green Zone is considered low level.
Yellow Zone counties include Buncombe, Catawba, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Cabbaruss, and Cumberland.
Green Zone counties include Guilford and Iredell.
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