Monday, January 11, 2021
Monday, January 4, 2021
THE CASH STUFF FOR 01-07-21
BLACK VOTE MAKES
HISTORY IN GEORGIA
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
The first African-American U.S. senator in history from the state of Georgia was elected Wednesday morning, thanks to the brilliant voter registration and mobilization of Georgia organizer/activist Stacy Adams.
Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat and the senior pastor of historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga., defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in a tight runoff to claim the seat. His race was called by the Associated Press and the major television news networks before 1 a.m..
Rev. Warnock’s Democratic running mate, Jon Ossoff, was leading his Republican opponent, incumbent Sen. David Purdue, by over 16,000 votes, Wednesday morning. Once Ossoff is officially projected to be the winner, and his victory certified, he will join colleague Sen.-elect Warnock in the U.S. Senate.
Rev. Warnock and Ossoff’s victories were immensely important to incoming Pre.-elect Joe Biden and Vice Pres.-elect Kamala Harris because not only does the double victory even up the U.S. Senate (50 Democrats vs 50 Republicans), but allows VP Harris to be the tie breaking-vote on important issues.
Warnock and Ossoff benefitted from the large statewide African-American voting coalition led by Stacey Abrams that helped Joe Biden win the state in November. Long early voting lines, and millions of mail-in ballots also marked the over 3.3 million total early votes.
“We were told that we couldn’t win this election. But tonight we proved that with hope, hard work and the people by our side, anything is possible,” Warnock said. “May my story be an inspiration to some young person who is trying to grasp and grab hold to the American dream.”
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JOYNER
FOX
BLACK LEGAL EXPERTS
BLAST TRUMP CALL &
JIM CROW CAUCUS MOVE
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
“So what are we going to do here folks? I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break!”
Pres. Donald J. Trump on leaked
telephone call to Georgia Sec. of
State Raffensperger Jan. 2nd, 2021
Irving Joyner, law professor at NC Central University School of Law, and chair of the NC NAACP Legal Redress Committee, was livid when he heard a recording of Pres. Trump’s Jan. 2nd phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, allegedly trying to illegally pressure the fellow Republican officeholder into “finding” 11,780 votes from the Nov. 3rd presidential election there so that Trump could officially claim Georgia’s already certified 16 electoral votes.
“Had you done what Donald Trump did with Brad Raffensperger or anyone else for that matter, you would have already been arrested, prosecuted, and executed or deported back to Africa,” Joyner exclaimed in an email, echoing other legal experts that Trump may have violated federal and state laws. “What the hell is going on in America?”
For the record, and history, Democratic challenger Joe Biden beat incumbent Trump by approximately 12,000 votes in Georgia, and over 7 million votes nationally. But that hasn’t stopped Trump, who is scheduled to officially leave office at the stroke of 12 noon on January 20th, from declaring that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him.
Problem is, after approximately 60 lawsuits, neither Trump nor any of his legal team have offered a shred of provable evidence in various courts or elsewhere to bolster his claims. His Jan. 2nd. telephone stunt is now seen as a desperate act, by a desperate man.
“This call is despicable and unprecedented!!!,” said retired Senior Resident Superior Court Judge, and former Orange County District Attorney Carl Fox in a Facebook post. “It should be investigated and submitted to a grand jury for its consideration. Rest assured, this call would be submitted to a grand jury if the caller was Mary Jo or John Q. Public. The president is NOT above the law!”
That feeling isn’t just limited to NC African-American law professors and former Superior Court judges.
Congresswoman Alma Adams [NC-12], just sworn-in Sunday for her fourth term, joined a congressional resolution along with North Carolina colleague Rep. G. K. Butterfield and over 90 other House members “censuring and condemning Pres. Trump for attempting to overturn the results of the November 2020 presidential election in the State of Georgia.”
But Rep. Adams didn’t stop there. She also later added, “Donald Trump belongs in prison. His actions justify it, the integrity of the Constitution necessitates it, and the sanctity of our Democracy requires it.”
However, approximately 140 Republican House colleagues of Adams disagree, so much in fact, they joined with what was expected to be at least 13 Republican U.S. senators yesterday who declared they would not except the Electoral College votes certifying Democrat Joe Biden as the new president-elect, instead demanding a 10-day period to appoint a commission to investigate allegations of “voter fraud.”
So why should African-Americans care? Because legal and political analysts say this is really about race, and discounting the votes of African-Americans.
In the six battleground states where Trump’s lawyers sought to overturn the election results, they targeted predominately Black areas where African-Americans won the state for Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. The courts in those states threw out those cases.
In Georgia, Trump claimed that thousands of votes were shredded in Fulton County, where 44 % of it’s one million population are Black.
Michael Steele, the Black former chairman of the Republican National Committee was blunt. “[Trump] tried to engage a conspiracy to violate the Constitution and the US Code by throwing out duly certified votes of citizens…by “attempting to deprive” Black voters in Georgia of their vote after “a fair and impartially conducted election.”
“In every jurisdiction that is presently being challenged by Donald Trump today is where African Americans eagerly used mail-in balloting to enlarge their participation in the voting process,” Prof . Joyner explained. “This enlarged and engaged participation by African Americans (because of the pandemic), in those Trump targeted jurisdictions, provided the overwhelming margin of victory for President-Elect Joe Biden.
“As such,” Joyner continued, “the attacks on voting that are being orchestrated by Donald Trump and his allies are directed at taking away votes which were cast by African Americans. When the Donald Trump gang rants about the casting of illegal mail-in ballots, they are referring to this large outpouring of African American political power and opposition that ousted him from office. In past elections, mail-in ballots have been primarily used by White voters.”
“Trump and his forces are outraged that they can’t identify any illegal or inappropriateness in these African American cast ballots to justify not counting them which has caused them now to focus on “outright” theft of the election in these targeted jurisdictions,” Joyner continued.
White moderate Republican “Never Trumpers ” like former strategists Stuart Stephens and Steve Schmit call the GOP Trump supporters in Congress pushing for the 2020 presidential election results to be thrown out “the Jim Crow Caucus.”
“The Jim Crow Senators are trying to throw away the votes of millions of Black Americans,” Schmit said on Twitter, noting that Trump’s current chief of staff, former North Carolina Congressman Mark Meadows was on that Jan 2nd. Georgia call with Trump.
“A man who cried crocodile tears at the death of a great man
@RepCummings is now seeking to toss out the votes of millions of Black Americans,” Schmit said. “Meadows has betrayed his country. His shame will be forever.”
Legal analysts note that if the Fulton County District Attorney wanted to charge Meadows as an accessory to violating Georgia election law, she could do it immediately.
“This represents the lowest of the lows,” former Judge Carl Fox says of the Republican effort to overturn the election. “So, the sore losers with no evidence whatsoever should be able to keep the legitimate winner of the election from taking office based upon their unfounded, unsubstantiated objections, feelings, or beliefs? January 20th cannot, CANNOT come too soon!”
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WHAT IS THE LATEST ON
VACCINE AVAILABILITY IN NC?
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for COVID-19 hav been out several weeks now, and just over 4. 5 million people across the nation have taken their first dose thus far.
But what is the status of vaccine treatment now in North Carolina, and how soon will it be before communities of color - which have suffered up to three times as much as their white counterparts from the coronavirus - receive their dose?
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of Monday, January 4h, North Carolina is one of seven states that have vaccinated fewer than 1000 people per every100,000.
The CDC also notes that North Carolina ranked among the tenth lowest for vaccine distribution.
Part of the problem with both vaccination and distribution is the considerable degree of confusion associated. Some community health centers have designated those 75 and older to be the among the first to be inoculated. Some areas designate those in long-term care facilities to be the first to receive shots.
Confusion comes when those not sure of their status show up to receive shots, only to be turned away. Many say they try to call numerous times before coming, in many cases being able to reach anybody because of phone problems.
Local health centers are still trying to coordinate with doctors and health specialists as to how and when to schedule vaccinations.
There is general agreement that the frequency of vaccinations is nowhere where it needs to be if CDC goals are to be met for complete inoculation by this time next year.
And as for communities of color, the NC Dept. of Health and Human Services ‘…has a specific focus building trust with historically marginalized populations,” the agency says. “Longstanding and continuing racial and ethnic injustices in our health care system contribute to lack of trust in vaccines. The Department is partnering with trusted leaders and organizations to provide accurate information about the vaccine.
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SUPPORT THE WILMINGTON
JOURNAL’S ‘GOFUNDME’ CAMPAIGN
By Cash Michaels
Staff writer
Other than the Black church, no other institution in the African-American community has fought harder for freedom than the Black Press, and in Wilmington, that institution is The Wilmington Journal.
No matter what the cause, concern or story, if it affects the African-American community in the port city or surrounding areas, The Wilmington Journal covers it to ensure that Black people are properly informed and empowered, and has been doing so since 1927.
But today, with dramatic changes in the economy, not to mention the drastic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Journal is in desperate need for community support to maintain it’s high level of service and commitment.
It’s Seventh Street headquarters are in need of critical repair from years of storm and wind damage. Without needed repairs, the building will be auctioned, and The Journal will cease to exist.
Thus, members of the Wilmington community, led by Dorian Cromartie of the Black Leadership Caucus, and Deborah Dicks Maxwell, president of the New Hanover County Branch of the NAACP, have come together to kick off a GoFundMe page titled “Save The Wilmington Journal,” with the goal of raising $95,000.
As of January 7, 2021, $5,746 has been raised in the effort from 77 donors. Ms. Cromartie herself has raised $470 from nine donations. Ms. Maxwell has raised $1,725.00 from 20 donations.
“The Journal must continue to be a voice in our community as it has for the past 93 years,” she says. “It is time to support them as they have supported us in every battle for social justice in this area. “
“The New Hanover County NAACP will support with a $1,000 check towards this effort,” Ms. Maxwell continued.
“I believe in what the paper represents and the need it fulfills in the community,” says Robert Bayley, who donated $100.00.
The campaign runs until February 1st, 2021, so those who would like to contribute are urged to go to the ‘GoFundMe” website, and enter “Save The Wilmington Journal” in the search engine. That will take you right to the fundraising page.
On behalf of the organizers, thank you.
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STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 01-07-21
GOV. COOPER MOBILIZES NATIONAL GUARD TO DISTRIBUTE COVID-19 VACCINE
[RALEIGH] On Tuesday, Gov. Roy Cooper mobilized the NC National Guard in order to accelerate distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. "Ensuring COVID-19 vaccines are administered quickly is our top priority right now," Cooper tweeted. "We will use all resources and personnel needed. I've mobilized the NC National Guard to provide support to local health providers as we continue to increase the pace of vaccinations." Approximately 50 National Gurd members will be utilized for the effort.
WAKE COMPANY SEEKS BLACKS, HISPANICS FOR NEW VACCINE TRIAL
[RALEIGH] A Raleigh company called Wake Research is seeking Black and Hispanic patients for a trial of the Novavax vaccine for COVID-19. Doses are administered three weeks apart. It is a two-in-one vaccine. According to Dr. Matthew Hong of Wake Research, the trial has about 40 participants thus far. Novavax is a two-year trial.
WILMINGTON FIRE DEPT. ASST CHIEF RETIRES
[WILMINGTON] After over thirty years, WFD Asst. Chief Rick Pearsall is retiring from the department this week. A former Marine. Pearsall joined the WFD in November 1990. He is also the second African-American to be appointed assistant chief with the department, the first being Lorenzo Edge. Pearsall is known and respected for being a leader who always looked after his men as long as they did their jobs.
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Tuesday, December 29, 2020
THE CASH STUFF FOR 12-30-20
PORTRAIT OF WHITE RACIST JUSTICE
REMOVED FROM NC. SUPREME COURT
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
The portrait of a vicious white racist slave-owning former NC Supreme Court chief justice has been removed from the courtroom of the NC Supreme Court because of the white supremacist legacy of the infamous jurist.
The portrait of former Chief Justice Thomas Carter Ruffin - who served from 1829 to1855- was removed last week by Dec. 22nd order of the Advisory Commissions on Portraits after final recommendations from that panel in December 2019.
A large seal of the NC Supreme Court was hung in it’s place.
“It is important that our courtroom spaces convey the highest ideals of justice and that people who come before our Court feel comfortable knowing that they will be treated fairly,” wrote outgoing Chief Justice Cheri Beasley. “The Court’s decision to remove the Ruffin portrait is a tremendous reflection of the progress that has been made since the time Chief Justice Ruffin served on the Court.”
To many legal scholars, Chief Justice Ruffin is considered “one of the most important jurists in American history” for his staunch advocacy for a fiercely independent judiciary from the legislature. Ruffin was also a prominent attorney, state lawmaker, state banker, plantation owner and slave owner in the Piedmont. It was after Ruffin left the presidency of the North Carolina State Bank that he was elected to the North Carolina Supreme Court.
And it is there that Justice Ruffin issued his post controversial legal opinion, State v. Mann, which found in favor of a brutal white slaveowner who was charged with assault and battery after gravely wounding a female slave upon her attempted escape.
“The power of the master must be absolute, to render the submission of the slave perfect. I most freely confess my sense of the harshness of this proposition . . . But in the actual condition of things, it must be so. . . . [It] will be the imperative duty of the Judges to recognize the full dominion of the owner over the slave,” Justice Ruffin wrote then.
While many legal scholars look up to Justice Ruffin for his strong advocacy for an independent judicial branch of government, not beholden to either the legislative or executive branches, many historians and civil rights activists - especially here in North Carolina, felt that Ruffin’s racist history should not be further honored in the state’s highest court of justice.
“Disciplinary practices on Ruffin's plantation included bloody whippings, burning the skin of the enslaved, the use of red pepper and salt on their wounds, even though his slaveholding neighbors complained,” wrote NCNAACP Pres. T. Anthony Spearman and historian Dr. Timothy Tyson in a recent op-ed. “Because his peers had come to find the slave trade so distasteful, Ruffin trafficked in Black bodies in secret, selling them from the Upper South at vast profits to Alabama and Mississippi. Ruffin tore enslaved children from the arms of their parents and separated enslaved wives and husbands from one another, despite admonitions against this cruel practice from other slaveholders. He believed that, since profits constituted the essence of the institution, this should be the accepted practice.”
Even one of Chief Justice Beasley’s colleagues, Justice Michael Morgan, weighed in after the Ruffin portrait was removed.
“From where I sit, the NC Supreme Court's immediate removal, after its historic vote, of the sizeable portrait of Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin--a slaveowner who actively defended the horrors of slavery and utilized such practices himself--which dominated the Court's hallowed halls, not only causes the Courtroom to look different; it also causes it to feel different.” Justice Morgan wrote on facebook, under video of courtroom staff removing the portrait.
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STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 01-01-21
TIME FOR A NEW NC LICENSE PLATE
[RALEIGH] If your regular NC license plate is seven years old or older, it is time to have it replaced starting Friday, Jan. 1st. You can have that done when your plate’s annual registration renewal is due. There is no extra charge for the new plate, and you cn keep it thy style of your old one. You can register in-person at your local DMV office or by mail. This move by law is to help make license plate identification easier for new technology.
LONGTIME FORMER SENATE PRO TEM MARC BASNIGHT, 73, DIES
[MANTEO] He is remembered as one of the most powerful legislative leaders in North Carolina history. Former Democratic Sennate Pro Tem Marc Basnight, 73, died Monday. He led the NC Senate for 18 years. Gov. Roy Cooper lauded Basnight for his exemplary leadership.
"North Carolina lost a giant today with the passing of my friend, Sen. Marc Basnight," Gov. Roy Cooper said in a statement. "His positive influence on our public universities, transportation, environment and more will be felt for decades. A man of great power and influence, his humble, common touch made everyone he met feel special, whether pouring them a glass of tea in his restaurant or sharing a pack of nabs at a country store. He believed in North Carolina and its people, and our state is stronger because of him. Our prayers are with Vicki, Caroline and the whole family." Current Senate Pres. Pro Tem Phil Berger remembered Basnight as a man of grace.
HOSPITALS STATEWIDE NER CAPACITY WITH COVID-19 CASES
[SMITHFIELD] As of Monday, there are a record 3,192 COVID-19 patients being treated in hospitals across North Carolina, which is near capacity, experts say. And in many cases, there aren’t enough nurses to take care of the load. Administrators say that their staffs are stretched. The rise in cases is due to Thanksgiving gatherings, and more are expected now in the aftermath of the Thanksgiving holidays.
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Monday, December 21, 2020
THE CASH STUFF FOR DEC. 24, 2020
STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 12-24-20
BIDEN TAPS MICHAEL S. REGAN FOR EPA ADMINISTRATOR
[RALEIGH] President-elect Joe Biden has elected Michael S. Regan, North Carolina’s top air quality enforcer, to become head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, thus making Regan the nation’s top pollution cop. Regan will also become the first Black man in the agency’s history to head up it’s efforts. Regan, 44, must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before he takes office.
THREE NC HBCUs GET BIG DONATIONS FROM BILLIONAIRE
[RALEIGH] Three North Carolina historically Black colleges got early Christmas presents in the form of huge donations from billionaire Mackenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Winston-Salem Sate University received $30 million from Scott, it’s largest single donation from one person ever. Elizabeth City State University saw $15 million and N.C. A&T University received $45 million.
REPORTERS COVERING BLM HEARINGS IN ALAMANCE COUNTY WIN
[GRAHAM] Three top local district court judges have ruled that up to five reporters must be allowed to cover hearings in the local courthouse, provided that they ask permission of the presiding judge, and that there is enough room. Judges had been barring reporters from covering hearings involving members of the Black Lives Matter movement.
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REV. BARBER’S POOR PEOPLE’S CAMPAIGN
PUSHES BIDEN/HARRIS ON PRIORITIES
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
On Jan 20th when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are sworn in as president and vice president of the United States respectively, the Poor’s People’s Campaign: a National Call for a Moral Revival will undoubtedly find a more receptive federal administration to it’s progressive agenda.
That’s what Rev. Dr. William Barber, co-convener of the Poor’s People’s Campaign certainly expected when they met with the domestic policy panel from the Biden/Harris Transition team last week. But the campaign also released a set of 14 policy and legislative priorities from it’s Poor People’s Jubilee Platform, and “insists” that they are prioritized during the first 50-100 days of the new administration and 117th Congress.
The 117th Congress convenes on Jan. 3rd, 2021.
That Poor People’s Campaign priority list includes:
1. Enact comprehensive, free and just COVID-19 relief that
must prioritize the needs of essential workers, people of color and low-income who have been hit the hardest in the pandemic.
2. Guaranteed quality health care for all, regardless of any preexisting conditions.
3. Raising the federal minimum wage to $15.00 per hour immediately
4. Update the poverty measure to replace the current poverty line to accurately reflect current conditions of poverty and economic insecurity.
5. Guarantee quality housing for all by expanding public and affordable housing, and rental assistance.
6. Enact a federal jobs program to build up investments, infrastructure, public institutions, climate resilience, energy efficiency and socially beneficial industries and jobs in poor and low-income communities.
7. Protect and expand voting rights and civil rights.
8. Guarantee safe, quality and equitable public education, with supports for protection against re-segregation, increasing public educational all levels, especially for poor and income communities.
9. Comprehensive and just immigration reform
10. Ensure all of the rights of indigenous peoples
11. Enact fair taxes on the wealthy, corporation and Wall Street.
12. Use the power of executive orders to meet these demands.
13. Redirect the bloated Pentagon budget towards these priorities
as matters of national security.
14. Work with the Poor People’ s Campaign to establish a permanent President Council to advocate for this bold agenda.
The Poor People’s Campaign concluded, “ The priorities above are Constitutionally consistent, morally defensible and economically sane. They come out of the lives, struggles, agency and insights of the 140 million and their moral, economic and legal allies. They embody a politics of love, justice and truth that can defeat the politics of death, heal the nation and bring us down the path towards genuine democracy. Rather than the puny politics of right or left, we must be guided by a politics of what is right or wrong.”
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AFTER 44 YEARS IN PRISON,
GOV. COOPER GRANTS RONNIE
LONG PARDON OF INNOCENCE
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
[CONCORD] In August, Ronnie Long was legally deemed a free man by a federal court which, after 44 years, vacated his first-degree rape and burglary charge.
On Dec. 17th, Gov. Roy Cooper put the icing on the cake by issuing a pardon of innocence to Ronnie Long, legally certifying that Long never raped and robbed the 54-year-old white woman he was wrongfully convicted for in Oct. 1976.
Long can now collect compensation from the state for his false conviction.
Long, who was falsely convicted when he was just 20 years-old by an all-white jury, was one of five men that Cooper - who had never issued any pardons prior during his tenure as governor - granted clemency to last week.
“We must continue to work to reform our justice system and acknowledge when people have been wrongly convicted,” Gov. Cooper said in a statement upon granting the clemencies. “ I have carefully reviewed the facts in each of these cases and, while I cannot give these men back the time they served, I am granting them Pardons of Innocence in the hope that they might be better able to move forward in their lives,” Gov. Cooper said.
The four others beyond Long had been falsely convicted for an unrelated crimes.
It was earlier this year when the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Long, 64, had been the victim of “extreme and continuous police misconduct” after 44 years behind bars.
He was released on August 31st after the State of North Carolina, after determining that the evidence proving his innocence had been hidden and his rights violated, moved to vacate the false convictions, thus immediately releasing him from prison.
There was never any physical evidence connecting Long to the crime. He was serving an 80-year sentence before his release in August.
Afterwards, Long told CBS News, “I feel as though the criminal justice system here in this state failed me.”
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Tuesday, December 15, 2020
THE CASH STUFF FOR DECEMBER 17
CHIEF JUSTICE BEASLEY
CONCEDES ELECTION
TO JUSTICE NEWBY
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
After 39 days, and one of the tightest elections in the history of North Carolina, NC Chief Justice Cheryl Beasley, Democrat, conceded defeat to Republican challenger Justice Paul Newby December 12th.
Newby will become Chief Justice on Jan. 1, 2021. He will serve an eight-year term.
Beasley, the first Black woman ever to serve as chief justice of the NC Supreme Court, trailed Newby in a statewide machine recount and hand-to-eye recount by 401 votes out of 5.4 million cast.
“Today, I called Justice Newby to congratulate him on winning the election for Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court,” Beasley wrote in an open letter to her supporters Saturday. “I offer my very best to him and his family as he moves into that new role.”
“I have tried my best as your Chief Justice to honor the opportunity set before me,” she continued. “I have tried not just to speak the truth, but to live it. To not simply be an expert in the law, but an advocate for equity, to apply the tools of justice to the cause of equality. My hope is that those values will continue to define North Carolina’s highest court as it meets the challenges of the future.”
“To serve this state and the people of North Carolina has been the greatest honor of my life.,” Beasley concluded.
To say that Chief Justice Beasley’s razor thin election defeat was stinging to her many supporters is an understatement.
“NC Dems failed Back women!! Period!,” opined Phyllis Coley, Durham Black magazine publisher, referring to the failure of six Black Democrat female candidates falling short in November.
“The NC Democratic Party should be ashamed considering of their failure to reciprocate the support black women have given to the Party to the black women who were on the ballot,” complained DeWarren L. online.
It was 2012 when then Democratic Governor Beverly Perdue appointed Associate NC Appellate Judge Cheri Beasley to finish the unexpired term of Associate Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson on the state’s highest court. A former Cumberland County public defender and District Court judge, Justice Beasley later won election to the seat.
In February 2019, after seven years on the High Court, Gov. Roy Cooper elevated Justice Beasley to chief justice to fill that vacancy, drawing the ire of the court’s longest serving justice, Paul Newby. Beasley instantly made history as the first African-American woman to hold the post, and the 29th justice to ever do so. An outraged Newby immediately challenged Beasley for her seat, eventually defeating her during the November 2020 election.
“Chief Justice Beasley was an outstanding leader for our judiciary during a period of tremendous challenges and stress,” said atty. Irving Joyner. “During this time, where huge racial issues arose and this deadly coronavirus pandemic ravished families and communities, the chief justice stood firm as an administrator and manager of the court’s operations and as a strong advocate for racial justice and equality within our justice system. She spoke with a calm and deliberate voice in order that our judicial agencies were open and available to the people and that citizens and court personnel were not placed in harm’s way. During this period, her voice as a progressive and concerned judicial arbiter was loud and clear as she fought to insure that Supreme Court opinions represented holistic view of how the North Carolina Constitution and laws spoke to the rights and protections of all of the people.
“For African Americans in particular,” Joyner continued , “we are proud that she represented us well as the first African American female and the second African American to lead the North Carolina Supreme Court. We were honored and blessed to have experienced her judicial wisdom and persuasion on the Court.”
“With the advent of Associate Justice Paul Newby as the incoming chief justice,” atty Joyner continued, “ we will experience a more conservative leadership and government-centered administration. Within African American and racial minority communities, there will be significant concerns about reported racially insensitive comments which he made following the appointment of Justice Beasley as the chief justice and during his campaign to unseat her. “
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NC BLACK FEMALE SCIENTIST
RESPONSIBLE FOR COVID-19
VACCINE
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
“Let us salute Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett for her role in developing this vaccine,” posted Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman, president of the NCNAACP , to his Facebook page Monday.
In case anyone seeing Dr. Spearman’s post wasn’t clear on what he was referring to, it was the notable revelation that a Black female immunologist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), who graduated from Orange High School in Hillsborough, and then UNC at Chapel Hill years later, was one of the leading researchers to unlock the mystery of the vaccine that now protects the world against the novel coronavirus.
“Kizzy is an African-American scientist who is right at the forefront of the development of the vaccine,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, after being questioned at a forum by the National Urban League.
“So the first thing you might want to say to my African-American brothers and sisters is that the vaccine that you’re going to be taking was developed by an African-American woman,” Dr. Fauci concluded.
Indeed, Dr. Corbett is one of the leading viral immunologists and research fellows at NIH that worked on the Moderna vaccine, which, according to the emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is 94% effective in preventing both illness and infection from COVID-19, which has presently claimed over 300,000 American lives, and infected more than 15 million people across the nation.
The Moderna vaccine is expected to be distributed in the U.S. by Friday.
It is a crowning achievement for what was once a young, gifted Black high school genius in the American Chemical Society’s Project SEED summer internship program at UNC-Chapel Hill. While other young people hung out or went to the beach for the summer, Corbett spent hers in laboratories, eventually earning an internship at the NIH.
She credits a scientist Al Russell, with being her mentor.
“Al was a Black man,” she once wrote. “At such an impressionable age, seeing, through him, that becoming a scientist was an attainable goal was what stood out to me the most. This left me with an understanding of the necessity of visible representation in underserved communities, and the realization that one’s approach to mentorship is equally as important as (or arguably more important than) their approach to scientific discovery. Al planted a seed that summer by taking time away from his experiments to mentor me. Now it is my purpose to resow those seeds in the youth who are the future of science.”
Dr. Corbett enrolled in a doctorate program at UNC-CH, and it was there that she chose to study viral infections, ultimately earning a PhD in microbiology and immunology. Corbett joined the NIH’s Vaccine Research Center, and ultimately Dr. Fauci’s team, as a postdoctoral fellow in 2014.
When the first indications that a serious viral infection from China had the potential to be widespread earlier this year, Corbett knew that she had to be part of the effort to develop an effective vaccine as soon as possible.
And she also knew that as an African-Americas scientist, it was important that she be visible in that effort, to help inspire up-and-coming Black scientists.
“As I trek through my scientific career,” Dr. Corbett recently wrote for the online magazine Nature Medicine, “… making novel discoveries, climbing what seems to be a never-ending ladder, I am reminded of my other duties…to mentor…to be visible…to represent.
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STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 12-17-20
CIAA 2021 BASKETBALL SEASON HAS BEEN SCRAPPED
[CHARLOTTE] The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association has announced that because of concerns evolving around the novel coronavirus, the 2021 men’s and women’s basketball season has been cancelled. The CIAA Board of directors also voted to cancel the 2021 volleyball and football seasons as well. “Unfortunately, the COVID-19 continues to challenge the conference’s ability to see a clear path to move forward collectively,” CIAA commissioner Jacqie McWilliams said in a statement.
NC STATE SENATOR SAYS TRUMP SHOULD DECLARE NATIONAL EMERGENCY
[CHOWAN] A Republican NC state senator says he is suspicious of the November 2020 election results, and believes that president. Trump should declare a national emergency, suspend basic liberties to overturn the election, and invoke the Insurrection Act. State Sen Robert Steinburg [R- Chowan] is echoing other disbelieving members of his party that Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Steinburg says he’s just putting “ideas on the table,” but believes “There’s something going on here bigger than what anybody is willing to talk about.”
NCGOP LEADERS FLAUNT COVID-19 SAFETY RULES WITH VICTORY PARTY
[ELKIN] Republican leaders from across the state gathered last Saturday at an indoor resort in Elkin to celebrate their election victories, but did so without masks and a definite lack of social distancing. Photographs from the event show leaders from Sen. Thom Tillis to House Speaker Tim Moore without masks carousing with other rand-in-file GOP’ers without any COVID-19 precautions. Ironically , North Carolina hit 6,000 cases on Saturday, and Elkin is in Surry County, one of the state’s hardest hit for corona virus.
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