What's Going On
What’s Going On
THE 11/3 ELECTION
These are the worst of times. Things have to get better……no later than American election day, November 3, time of reckoning. The COVID19 figures, are traveling north again in many red states and in NY. On 9/29, the US reported more than 7 million COVID infections and more than 205,000 dead. American COVID19 fatalities is 25% of the total worldwide numbers. Schools and colleges are back in session, many people are returning to work and recreation routines as the virus spreads. The flu season is imminent. Will US Senate Republicans shake some more money for a revisited COVID19 stimulus package in the $2.5 trillion ballpark before 11/3 to assuage some of the national pain.
People know that POTUS 45 lies incessantly……….but his big lie about not knowing about the pernicious nature of COVID19 is unforgivable. The lie was followed by the absence of leadership in health crisis management which begat the 7-month long economic crisis. It is no secret that America needs of a national policy of virus containment. We are in the twilight zone, wide awake in a nightmare without end. November 3 is THE day!
Are polls accurate about a close Biden/Trump race? Trump says that he will not accept a loss if the final vote is close while he send messages to the base to get ready for violence if it is. Recently, I’ve received unsolicited emails inviting me to buy guns and knives wholesale. It is scary! Trump threatens the use of the military to maintain governance. Americans are urged to expel the GOP Senate majority when casting ballots on or before 11/3. Senate has too much power and is under the influence of a cult-like leader in the Oval Office.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
AFRICA: 2020 is the year of multiple 60th Independence Anniversaries. In 1960, aka the “Year of Africa,” when 17 African countries achieved independence from European rule. Those nations and independence dates follow. Cameroon, 1/1: Togo, 4/27: Madagascar, 6/26: Somalia 7/1; Democratic Republic Of Congo 6/30; Benin, 8/1: Niger, 8/3; Burkina Faso, 8/5; Ivory Coast, 8/7; Chad, 8/11; Central African Republic, 8/13: Republic of Congo, 8/15; Gabon 8/17; Senegal 8/20; Mali, 9/22; Nigeria, 10/1; and Mauritania, 11/28.
Major elections will be held this year, for Guinea President Alpha Conde and Cote Ivoire President Alassane Quattara who seek unconstitutional 3rd terms, on 10/18 and 10/31 respectively. Ghana elections will be held 12/ 7 and President Nana Akufu-Addo is running for re-election.
EDUCATION UPDATES
NYC: The NYC Principals union calls for Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYC Department of Education Chancellor Richard Carranza to step aside and let the NYS Department of Education run NYC public schools through the COVID crisis. Their complaint is that DOE is 1200 teachers shy of workforce necessary for the classroom/remote learning plan devised by Hizzoner and Carranza for 1.1 million public school students. Classroom openings on 9/29 and 10/1 will determine if the principals are prescient.
Patricia Bransford’s nonprofit Urban Tech launches a pilot program, Dignity for All, “for parents to become equal partners in educating their children at home.” Its DFA Program forms teacher/parent alliances then uses its customized curriculum. Parents interested in the Dignity for All Program and remote learning should visit urbantech.org.
Craig Newmark, Craig’s List founder , and the Craig Newmark Philanthropies donates $2.5 million gift to Howard University to support aspiring journalism students. Monies earmarked for Howard’s Cathy Hughes School of Communications. Howard University has been the recipient of generous donors this year.
WANTED: The National Aeronautics And Space Administration (NASA), its NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, is looking for NYC STEM teachers for its yearlong Climate Change Research Initiative, which begins in October and ends next summer, running concurrent with the school year. Stem teachers are recruited for part-time work which includes a stipend. For more info, visit NASA Climate Change Research Initiative.
ARTS/CULTURE
BOOKS: The Annual Brooklyn Book Festival, goes virtual this year, running from September 28 to October 5. Visit brooklynbookfestival.org.
Former NYS Governor David Paterson has completed his political memoir book, BLACK, BLIND & IN CHARGE: A Story of Visionary Leadership,” which is published by Simon and Schuster.
The first Black governor of NYS, Paterson is the fourth African American to hold that position in American history. The consummate insider, he talks in depth about the multiple levers of NYS power politics during his time as governor, from March 2008 through December 2010.
People are talking about Afro Latina attorney and “The View” co host Sunny Hostin’s new book, “I AM THESE TRUTHS: A Memoir of Identity, Justice and Living Between Worlds,” published by HarperCollins. Read what she relates about omnipresent racism at the workplace and why ABC brass wanted her to remove those passages from her memoir.
Al Sharpton’s new book, “RISE UP; Confronting A Country At the Crossroads” revisits the Obama Administration, the 2016 election, the rise of Trump and his obliteration of the GOP; and it reviews the Sharpton’s years as journalist and political activist working with Shirley Chisholm, Hillary Clinton, and Dr. Martin Luther King and others.
THEATER: OctoberFest the New Federal Theatre, NFT, Retrospective Reading Series, presents five plays illuminating the social injustices of America, which will be virtual streamed in October on Fridays at 7 pm. “Do Lord Remember Me” by James DeJongh, featuring Ebony JoAnn, Barbara Montgomery, Roscoe Orman and Glynn Turman, on 10/2; “Dr DuBois & Miss Ovington” by Clare Coss on 10/9 ; “From the Mississippi Delta,” by Endesha Ida Mae Holland, on 10/16; “Medal of Honor Rag” by Tim Cole, on 10/23; and “Stories of the Old Days” by Bill Harris, directed by LaTanya Richardson Jackson, featuring Michael Potts and Pauletta Washington, on 10/30. RSVP for free OctoberFest readings at newfederaltheatre.com. Producer/director Elizabeth Van Dyke recently named New Federal Theatre Artistic Director.
MEDIA: The 10/5 Time Magazine issue with Ruth Bader Ginsberg on the cover celebrates the world’s “100 Most Influential People.” Bios for the Influential were written by world renown celebs. Many Black people made the cut, including Democratic VP nominee Kamala Harris, billionaire Robert F Smith, whose bio was co-written by Samuel and La Tanya Richardson Jackson, Dr. Angela Davis, Dr. Ibram X Kendi, US General Charles Q. Brown Jr and Black Lives Matter cofounders, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi; Artists and entertainers Gabrielle Union, Dwayne Wade; Dapper Dan; Jennifer Hudson, The Weekend, Michael Jordan and Giannis Antetokounmpo; African eminences Nigerian billionaire Tony Elumelu, MD, interviewed by Aliko Dangote, Republic of the Congo Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum, MD, Republic of the Congo and WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The foregoing is a partial list of Time’s Black Influentials.
A Harlem-based media/branding specialist, Victoria is reachable at Victoria.horsford@gmail.com