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Covid-19 Across Africa & Its Diaspora: Dismantling Colonialism and Restoring Justice
October 18-November 8 | 1:30-3:30pm | Facilitated by Yemi Abioye
Through four webinars, the series will take a deep dive into the devastating impact of Covid-19 on communities of African descent. The titles are:
1) Public Health and Covid-19
2) The Gendered Effects of Covid-19
3) The Politics of Covid-19
4) Covid-19 and the Survival and Vitality of the Black Church.
Each webinar will feature expert panelists who will give cutting edge analyses, and propose solutions. The webinar will include breakout sessions and Q&A. Drawing on studies by scholars, activists, multilateral organizations and NGOs, as well as the experiences of ordinary Africans on the Continent and her diaspora, the panel will inform, educate, suggest solutions, and encourage collective organized action for restorative justice. TO REGISTER, CLICK HERE, AND SCROLL DOWN:
https://www.trcnyc.org/smallgroups/
I PEEPED OUR NORTH CAROLINA JUNIOR SENATOR THOM TILLIS HOLD CARD!
Far too many legislators/lawmakers are as cold-blooded as their ancestors were. Senator Thom Tillis is paid over $175,000 a year plus over $90,000 in “tax- free” benefits to represent me. His American dream, rags to riches, story begins in a trailer park on a dirt road where his “nomad” family lived in an old, rented trailer. When Thom won his 1st election, he had to decide what type of legislator he would be. One who served all the people “equally” or only served those who donated to and served him. Tillis followed the path of the greedy farmer in the famous parable about sharing and building bigger grain bins. After becoming rich from voting for or against the bills the big money changers told him to, Tillis moved on up to a mansion on a paved street in a high-class gentrified, gerrymandered community. He received over $400,000 from the pharmaceutical Industry to let them raise prices on insulin, high blood pressure, and cancer drugs. He received over $600,000 from insurance companies to drop or charge people more for pre-existing conditions. The NRA gave him over four million dollars and an A+ rating for helping them keep war -like assault rifles legal with maximum killing power. His memory and promises are very selective. He evidently had forgotten about his early years living in a trailer park, while his family received free health care at the emergency rooms, when he blocked Medicaid expansion six times and went on TV and bragged about it. He broke his family values vows of till death do us part, in his 2nd and 3rd marriage. He broke the two oaths, to uphold the Constitution, he took as a member of the N.C. General Assembly and the U.S. Senate. Tillis went from buying two for a penny cookies at a corner store near his trailer parks to crepes suzette in 5-star up-town restaurants. The poor good boy, Thom Tillis, is now a “flimflam” man worth over 11 million dollars. He is now called “honorable”, always seated at the head table where he is served first, waited on hand and foot 24/7 by his 39 well-paid, college -educated staff members. He has the power to make laws that make the rich richer and the poor poorer, add or cut any regulation that will help his rich donors. To keep the poor people in their place, Thom voted to keep the federal minimum wage at $7.25 per hour. Big money knows that Thom (for sale) Tillis is among the best U.S. Senator’s dark money can buy. Most U.S. Senators have the distinction of being articulate, altruistic, un-biased and bringing prestige to the Senate. Thom Tillis lacks any distinction and gains prestige from being a member of the Senate. A person’s heroes and friends usually tell a lot about them. Tillis’ heroes are the late segregationist Governor George Wallace and N.C. U.S. Senator Jesse Helms. His best friends are the Koch brothers, Art Pope, Rush Limbaugh, and TRUMP.As a teacher, I give Thom Tillis a grade of F. He agrees 100% with Betsy DeVos, TRUMP’S educationally challenged billionaire, Secretary of Education from HELL. By his actions, I know Tillis does not give a “hoot” about representing anyone as poor as me, looks like me, or the little immigrant children locked in dog cages, some sexually abused and permanently separated from their parents. Saul changed from a vigilante to Apostle Paul and Ebenezer Scrooge former sweatshop employer to a philanthropist. If we elect Tillis to six more years, will he change and go back and pay the government back pay for the free emergency room services and other welfare his family received back in his poor days? The Hebrew Prophet, Isaiah, who was born 700 years before Jesus prophesied/predicted the actions of parasites like Thom Tillis. Isaiah 10:1-3 “Woe unto those who legislate evil and rob the poor of their rights”. As a U.S. Army veteran, I believe life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, social security, healthcare, and voting are all my rights. My family and I will happily give, Thom Tillis, a “pink slip” on or before November 3rd. Will your family and friends give him “pink slips” too? If yes, please tell somebody about our junior senator. Thom Tillis is an embarrassment to most of us including our senior senator, the “honorable” Richard Burr!!!
James J. Hankins
WAS THE $1,200 STIMULUS ENOUGH TO PAY FOR YOUR RENT, UTILITIES, FOOD, TRANSPORTATION, AND PHONE BILL? If no, please just say plain no, do not cuss (LOL). TRUMP and his three wives, Mitch McConnell and his two wives, Linsey Graham, Thom Tillis, David Rozier, and all other elected members of congress are paid over $200,000 a year. How many of them do you think ever gave $1,200 to a poor person or family? Again, please just answer, no descriptive adjectives for our public servants (LOL). Our flag-waving USA billionaires, like Robert Kraft and Jerry Jones, who claim to be patriotic got a large pepperoni pizza. We poor and middle class essential under minimum wage workers/ sacrificial lambs got one ridiculously small slice with three razor- thin pepperonis on it. Despite the record number of workers at meat plants such as Tyson, Smithfield and others testing positive for COVID-19, TRUMP issued an executive order that indemnified/exempted them from lawsuits. What protection did TRUMP order for the workers? As a retired vocational education (shop) teacher, I ask “where is OSHA”? My niece a nurse practitioner, on the front line, asks where is the CDC? Our government collects enough of our tax dollars every April 15th to pay for anything our leaders want to spend it on like wars and tax cuts for the rich. We should press our elected officers to give each adult $2,000 a month until three months after we have a vaccine that will slow or cure COVID-19. The rich will invest their $2,000 in stocks while the prices are incredibly low. We poor and middle class will pay on some of our bills and buy food. We will spend about 97% of our $2,000, it will be taxed about ten times, then back in our US Treasury in 7 to 10 days. My family and I are going to contact our two U.S. Senators and one U.S. Representative and demand the government give us back our fair share of our rainy-day savings during this pandemic. I remember something I learned in my 10th grade government class that always made me feel independent. “Whenever any form of government became destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and institute a new government”. If our 116th congress vote NO on a fair and balanced stimulus bill to save us from bankruptcy, we will exercise our rights and vote NO on their election or reelection on November 3rd. Will you and your family join my family???
ERA Did you know?
One of the first things the
founding father did was to
take away those civil rights
some states gave women.
WHY? it was felt that in a
christian nation there wasn't
a need for such.that christian
men would protect and care for
women.
EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT (ERA)
Diversity is key to keeping America The Leader of the Free World. Congratulation this is the window Love has opened for you! We are looking for specialists and experts in finance, law, agriculture, commerce, labor, health and human services, urban development, transportation, energy, education, veterans affairs, trade, security, foreign policy, budgeting, environmental conservation, small business administration, and economics. Must pass the highest level of security check, consent to 100% accountability while on the job and agree to not excepting executive gifts from any individual or company or foreign government of over $200. We are putting together a 100% by-partisan, diverse Executive branch of government in which we will offer solutions instead of sides. If interested contact MiMi Boyett with Be Incorruptible at 336-681-2891
MY THREE FAMILIES 12 STEP LIFE, LIBERTY AND PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS PLATFORM. Are you satisfied with the elected politicians at the local, state and federal level? We must make a choice in November to rehire or fire them. The politicians will have to accept all or most of our 12 platform demands to earn our vote.
1. In 1776 America was founded. One hundred and eighty-seven (187) years later in 1963 Congress passed the Equal Pay Act for women. Fifty-five (55) years later in 2018 we still need one more state to ratify it to become law. This is the 2017 pay chart. When a white man is paid $1.00. The white lady is paid 79 cents, black lady 60 cents and Hispanic lady 55 cents. We must give ladies equal pay for equal work.
2. TRUMP tax cut is for the “rich only” and puts us over 10 trillion dollars in debt (a billion is equal to 1,000 million—a trillion is equal to 1,000 billion). It will save the TRUMP family over 1 billion dollars. How much did the tax cut save you? We need to repeal this law.
3. My N.C. 7th district congressman, David Rozier, voted 71 times to stop Obamacare which insured people with pre-existing conditions. Health care is a right. We need affordable health care plan for all. Bring back Obamacare and make the necessary improvements.
4. Too many of our tax dollars are being spent on charter schools that are for the select few. We must put that money back into our public schools and make every school a “great” school. We need more money for school buildings, supplies, teachers and bring back the thousands of enthusiastic teacher’s assistants who were fired to cut the school budgets.
5. The Immigration and Nationality Act was passed in 1952. Sixty-six (66) years later, 2018, we need comprehensive immigration reform.
6. Around 15% of students drop out of high school and less than 60% of high school graduates go on to college. The student that takes all required classes only and graduate with a C+ average is prepared to do little or nothing in the workforce. We need to reform education by bringing back “old school
hands on” vocational education and life skills. Start civics 1 and 2 for all middle and high school students so they will have a basic knowledge of how local, state and federal governments operate.
7. No more career quid-pro-quo politicians playing musical chairs. We need term limits.
8. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are not qualified to work in our White House. We must prohibit politicians from hiring relatives, friends and other unqualified/dangerous people. Mandate their staff be diversified and require them to hold three Q&A town hall meetings each year.
9. Make race and sex discrimination, gun control, opioid abuse, fracking, offshore drilling, clean air, water and mental health top priorities.
10. Bring 75% of our “battle-weary/over deployed” troops back home from the many wars we are currently engaged. Some 4,486 brave troops died in Iraq and some returned home to live the rest of their lives with serious physical and mental injuries. Vice-president, Dick Cheney’s company, Halliburton, made $39.5 billion during the Iraq war. We need to use some of those billion dollars to give our senior citizens at least a 25% increase in their “too small” social security checks, and free first-class health care and job training for all our veterans. In 1961 President Eisenhower warned us about the Military Industrial Complex. We did not listen, so now we can truthfully say in 2018 “the sun never sets on the U. S. Military”.
11. TRUMP’S wall will cost over 75 billion dollars to build and over 150 million dollars a year to maintain. The new leaders we elect on November 6th can create a Civilian Conservation Corps, jo b program, that would put our young and other unemployed people to work on repairing and building new roads, bridges, schools and other ancillary jobs.
12. Over two thousand years ago an honest tax collector named Zacchaeus said, (paraphrased) “If I have cheated any man, I will repay him fourfold”. Lock up the convicted politicians for a minimum of 4 years and make them pay back four times the amount of tax dollars they embezzled/ pocketed.
I will vote for the most honest politician who will fight for the most items on my family’s list. Please make your platform list discuss and share it with your family and friends. My family will go “all-in” by registering, voting in every election and telling the politicians what our demands are. Will your family go “all-in”???
James J. Hankins is an Army veteran, N. C. A&T State University alumni, retired vocational education teacher, retired construction manager for Youth-Build Wilmington, past president of the New Hanover County NAACP branch and author of the book “What We Blacks Need To Do’.