Monthly Archives: April 2021

Ben & Jerrysis standing up for Black lives, calling for the criminal justice system to be defunded and reformed.

Ice cream makers Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield believe white supremacy was the reason why 20-year-old Daunte Wright was shot and killed by a police officer in a Minneapolis suburb over the weekend, Fox News reported.

The murder of Daunte Wright is rooted in white supremacy and results from the intentional criminalization of Black and Brown communities, said Ben and Jerrys official Twitter. This system cant be reformed.

The murder of #DaunteWright is rooted in white supremacy and results from the intentional criminalization of Black and Brown communities.

This system cant be reformed.

It must be dismantled and a real system of public safety rebuilt from the ground up.#DefundThePolice

Ben & Jerrys (@benandjerrys) April 12, 2021

The decision to call out white supremacy was met with praise from activists, but there was pushback from those who disagree with its hardline position on police reform.

Never had Blue Bell ice cream. How do we make this happen?

Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) April 14, 2021

Dear aging hippies from Ben and Jerrys (Even though you sold out to Unilever a long time ago), please stick to making overpriced super sickly ice cream, not lecturing us.

Simon Lord (@MPC3675) April 14, 2021

This is not the first time Ben and Jerrys made its left-leaning politics public. The company is open about its stance on climate change, voting rights, and has collaborated with civil rights athlete Colin Kaepernick, known for taking a knee protests against racial injustice in America, to make a signature ice cream flavor, The Sun reported.

The officer who killed Wright is former police officer Kim Potter. On Wednesday, she was arrested and faces 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine on a second-degree manslaughter charge.

As BLACK ENTERPRISE previously reported, the Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer handed in her resignation in a short letter to Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliot Tuesday. After Potter handedin her resignation, Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon did the same.

I have loved every minute of being a police officer and serving this community to the best of my ability, but I believe it is in the best interest of the community, the department, and my fellow officers if I resign immediately, Potter wrote.

This is the third incident of a Black man being killed by an officers hand in the state in the last five years. Philando Castile, who was also fatally shotduring a traffic stopin 2016, andGeorge Floyd, who was killed last year. The police officer who killed Floyd is currently on trial, less than 10 miles from where Wright was shot.

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Ben & Jerry's is Sick and Tired of White Supremacy, Want To Defund The Police - Black Enterprise

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Anissa Weier listens as her attorney, Maura McMahon, questions a witness during an earlier hearing in the Slender Man stabbing case. Weier, who was committed to 25 years for her role in the stabbing, is seeking her conditional release from a mental health facility.(Photo: Michael Sears / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Anissa Weier, one of two women institutionalized for her part in the Slender Man stabbing, should be released from a state mental hospital because she doesn't have any violent tendencies ordelusions and has "extraordinary compliance" to treatment, her attorneys recently said.

She has also had contact with Morgan Geyser the other woman committed in the case and there haven't been any incidents, Weier's attorneys said.

Weieris seeking conditional release nearly seven years after she and Geyser nearly stabbed a middle school classmate to death in a Waukesha park so they could gain favor with afictional internet horror character named Slender Man. The girls, who were 12 years old at the time, said they believed Slender Man would harm them or their families if they didn't kill someone.

Weier, now 19 years old, is serving a 25-year commitment after a jury in 2017 found her not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect to attempted second-degree intentional homicide. Weier wrote to a judge in March that shehas "exhausted" all the resources available to her at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute.She's asking for a chance to be "a productive member of society."

While prosecutors said they believe Weier "cannot safely be released," the defense said the court-ordered doctors who evaluated Weier in recent months recommend Weier be conditionally released.

A judge will decide whether Weier poses a significant risk to herself or others or ofseriously damagingproperty during a conditional release hearing June 11.

WHAT WE KNOW: Here are answers to questions about Anissa Weier's conditional release request

If released, Weierwould be assignedcase managers from the stateDepartment of Corrections and Department of Health Services until she turns 37, the length of her commitment.

The three mental health experts said that if Weier is placed on conditional release they don't believe she would be less compliant withsupervisors than she is now at Winnebago.

Weiers father, Bill,has offered his home as an option where Anissa could live, as well as financial assistance for educational and employment opportunities.

Weier wrote that she wants toget "someformof higher education." Weier's attorneys said she has finished high school and has been employed at the institute.

Waukesha County Assistant District Attorney Kevin Osborne called Weier "adanger to others" in a recent brief to the court.

Maura McMahon, one of Anissa Weier's attorneys, makes a closing argument before Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren during a trial in 2017. McMahon is calling on a judge to have Weier conditionally released from a state mental health facility.(Photo: C.T. Kruger/Now News Group)

The defense, however, said there are multiple examples at Winnebago that show Weier is no longer a threat, as she has advanced to "the highest level attainable while institutionalized and earned numerous privileges," according to attorneys Maura McMahon and Joseph Smith.

McMahon and Smith said Weier hashandled knives and electric power tools, including a bandsaw, without incident, in a kitchen and at the institute's Log Cabin Workshop, which offers volunteer woodworking opportunities and the ability to gain work skills.

Weier also had a roommate after she turned18 in November 2019, and there haven't beenany episodes of reported violence or threats of violence, her attorneys said.

Weier has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression and personality disorderly, but the doctorssaid she no longer has a psychotic or delusional disorder.She is prescribed an antidepressant.

TIMELINE: How the Waukesha Slender Man stabbing case played out over the years

Years ago, three mental health experts, includingMelissa Westendorf, aforensic psychologist, said that at the time of the stabbing, Weier suffered from a shared delusional disorder. The condition is a mental health disorder when a delusional belief is held by one person and shared with at least one other person. Westendorf said Weier's friendship with Geyser, who had early onset schizophrenia, created the "perfect storm" of events for the crime.

At Weier's sentencing in December 2017, Bohren mentioned a "startling" report that said Weier had talked of making aOuija board at the Washington County Juvenile Detention Center and of it unleashing spirits.

At Winnebago, Weier was befriended by peers who introduced her tothe pagan witchcraft Wicca religion, her attorneys said. But Weier separated herself about a week after being introduced to the practices and told her mental health providers that she had allowed herself to be drawn into a practice that she realized was not healthy for her.

"She has even expressed distaste for individuals serving commitments who pretend to be well in order to get released," her attorneys wrote.

RELATED: In interview with ABC's '20/20,' Slender Man stabbing victim Payton Leutner says 'without the situation, I wouldn't be who I am'

Robert Rawski, another forensic psychiatrist ordered to evaluate Weier for the conditional release, questioned whether she had ever had a psychotic or delusional disorder. Buthe acknowledged he did not have full access to records the other mental health experts had during the insanity defense evaluations. He added Weier now has "no treatment needs that require institutional care."

Over the past year, Weier has resided in the same unit and wing as Geyser, who is serving a 40-year commitment after she reached a plea and was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect to attempted first-degree intentional homicide.

While Weier's attorneys wrote that the two have come into contact with one another, Weier has not developed a re-emergence of her prior delusional belief system or any violent actions.

ContactChristopher Kuhagen at (262) 446-6634or christopher.kuhagen@jrn.com. Followhim on Twitter at @ckuhagenand our newsroom Instagram accounts at MyCommunityNow and Lake Country Now.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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Anissa Weier, one of the women in the Slender Man stabbing, should be released from a state mental hospital, her attorneys say - Milwaukee Journal...

Assisted living and other long-term care operators are the victims of politics via legislation signed last week by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo that repeals blanket immunity protections for pandemic-related efforts, according to one industry representative.

Senate Bill S5177, sponsored by Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (D-Bronx/Westchester), repeals Article 30-D of the Public Health Law, the Emergency or Disaster Treatment Protection Act with the intent of holding healthcare facilities, administrators and executives accountable for harm and damages incurred from treating individuals with COVID-19. Also applying to nursing homes and other healthcare facilities during the pandemic, it immediately leaves providers open to potential civil and criminal liability related to COVID-19 treatment.

The act had protected hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities, including assisted living communities, shielding them from lawsuits alleging misconduct due to resource or staffing shortages.

Stephen Hanse, president and CEO of the NYS Health Facilities Association / NYS Center for Assisted Living, told McKnights Senior Living that the repeal is contrary to the original intent of the Legislature, which was to provide limited liability protections in exigent, emergency circumstances: the COVID-19 public health emergency. The protections, he added, were aimed at helping providers deal with contrary and often conflicting federal, state and local orders, rules and regulations.

The law provided a level of certainty follow our rules and orders, and if you do that in good faith, were all in this together, Hanse said, emphasizing that the state and country are still in the pandemic and remain under a public health emergency declaration. Its unfortunate this just became a political issue, he said. The Legislature did not look at the substance of the issue and the importance of protections when you are in a public health emergency.

Hanse, who is an attorney, said his concern is that unscrupulous lawyers will be looking to take advantage of very unprecedented circumstances.

The men and women who work in nursing homes, hospitals and healthcare throughout New York were heroes fighting on the front line, Hanse said. Its unfortunate politics truly dictated the repeal of this bill. At the end of the day we are all in this together. We are working to protect and safeguard our patients, residents and staff who do the very best they can in difficult circumstances.

Biaggi, the senator, said that the Emergency or Disaster Treatment Protection Act egregiously uses severe liability standards as a means to insulate healthcare facilities and specifically, administrators and executives of such facilities, from any civil or criminal liability for negligence. Repealing this article is a much-needed step to holding healthcare administrators accountable and doing everything possible to stop more preventable deaths from happening.

New York previously walked back blanket protections granted to senior living communities and nursing homes by signing a law last summer narrowing the scope of immunity to certain healthcare professionals who treat people during the COVID-19 state of emergency. That law amended the definition of healthcare services eligible for immunity by removing prevention of COVID-19 from the definition of healthcare services. It also clarified that the immunities applied to the assessment or care of an individual with a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19, and removed immunity protections for a healthcare facility or healthcare professional arranging for healthcare services.

Hanse said the amendments last August tightened the law and made it specific only to COVID-related circumstances. Moreover, he said, the law never provided protections for willful or intentional criminal misconduct, gross negligence or reckless behaviors.

S5177 fully repeals the remaining protections under the immunity provision.The move by New York runs counter to actions taken in other states that are extending immunity protections to senior living providers. At least a dozen states have adopted immunity for businesses to limit their exposure to COVID-19-related lawsuits. They include Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming

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Providers victims of politics in 'unfortunate' repeal of COVID immunity protections, industry rep says - News - McKnight's Senior Living

For the fourth night in a row, protesters gathered at the Brooklyn Center police station to demonstrate over the killing of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, during a traffic stop in the Minneapolis suburb, hours after former police officer Kim Potter was arrested and charged in his death.

A firework was seen going off and police fired flash bombs Wednesday night as a curfew got closer. Officers declared the gathering an unlawful assembly late Wednesday, about an hour before curfew.

The curfew in Brooklyn Center was from 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. CT, Mayor Mike Elliott said Wednesday during a news conference. Surrounding cities have also enacted curfews, but Minneapolis and St. Paul have not, according to their respective websites.

More than 3,000 Minnesota National Guard members have now been activated in the Twin Cities area, according to a tweet from Operation Safety Net.

Wright's death on Sunday has roiled a metropolitan area scarred by other police-involved deaths and reignited national conversations about policing and the use of force.

Earlier this week, then-Police Chief Tim Gannon said Wright's death appeared to be the result of Potter mistaking her gun for her Taser as Wright resisted arrest.

LIVE UPDATES

But Imran Ali, a prosecutor in Orput's office, has said prosecutors intend 'to prove that Officer Potter abrogated her responsibility to protect the public when she used her firearm rather than her Taser.'

'Her action caused the unlawful killing of Mr. Wright and she must be held accountable,' Ali said in a news release.

Potter, who resigned as a Brooklyn Center police officer this week, was arrested and charged Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter, Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office determined Wright died of a gunshot wound and that his death was a homicide.

Potter was arrested late Wednesday morning by agents with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the bureau said. She was booked into the Hennepin County Jail, online records show.

Potter posted bail and was released from custody, according to the Hennepin County Sheriff's official website. She will make her first court appearance via Zoom on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. CT.

In Minnesota, second-degree manslaughter applies when authorities allege a person causes someone's death by 'culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk, and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another.'

Someone convicted of this charge would face a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $20,000. CNN has sought comment from Potter's attorney, Earl Gray.

Protests, some violent, have taken place each night after Wright's death, in and around Brooklyn Center. OSN tweeted 79 people were arrested Tuesday night.

Wright's family had called for charges against the officer. Fencing and barricades are in place around Potter's home, where two police officers and two police vehicles were seen in her driveway Wednesday.

'I share our community's anger and sadness and shock,' Elliott, the mayor, said. 'My message to all who are demanding justice for (Daunte Wright) and for his family is this: Your voices have been heard, now the eyes of the world are watching Brooklyn Center and I urge you to protest peacefully and without violence.'

Developments in the investigation have unfolded daily, including the release of body camera footage and Gannon's statement that the shooting appeared accidental on Monday, and the resignations of Potter and Gannon on Tuesday.

Though Potter has submitted a resignation letter, Mayor Elliott said Tuesday he has not accepted it, adding 'we're doing our internal process to make sure that we are being accountable to the steps that we need to take.' Earlier, he told CBS he thought Potter should be fired.

Potter is still entitled to benefits following her resignation, though it is not clear what those benefits are, Edwards said.

Orput is the prosecutor in Washington County, near Hennepin County, where Brooklyn Center is. The case was given to Washington County prosecutors to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest in Hennepin County, officials have said.

Sunday's killing of Wright is at least the third high-profile death of a Black man during a police encounter in the Minneapolis area in the past five years, after the shooting of Philando Castile in Falcon Heights in 2016 and the death of George Floyd last year. Minneapolis police also were under scrutiny when an officer was convicted of third-degree murder and manslaughter for the 2017 fatal shooting of Justine Ruszczyk, a White woman.

The trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer accused of killing Floyd, is taking place just 10 miles from Brooklyn Center.

Gray, Potter's attorney, also is the attorney for Thomas Lane, one of four officers involved in Floyd's death, and one of the defense attorneys for Jeronimo Yanez, the former police officer who was found not guilty in Castile's death.

Reacting to the manslaughter charge, one of the Wright family's attorneys, Benjamin Crump, released a statement saying 'while we appreciate that the district attorney is pursuing justice for Daunte, no conviction can give the Wright family their loved one back.'

'This (shooting) was no accident. This was an intentional, deliberate and unlawful use of force,' Crump's statement reads.

'Driving while Black continues to result in a death sentence. A 26-year veteran of the force knows the difference between a Taser and a firearm,' Crump wrote. He added that the Wright family would hold a news conference Thursday afternoon.

As a result of unrest in the city, acting City Manager Reggie Edwards announced the formation of the Brooklyn Center Community Crisis Team. The team includes nine members representing the business, faith, education and nonprofit communities in the city as well as the city government.

Floyd's family left the courthouse during Chauvin's trial Tuesday 'because they thought it was important that they give comfort to Daunte Wright's mother' and family, Crump said Tuesday at a news conference with the two families.

'We will stand in support with you. ... The world is traumatized, watching another African American man being slayed,' said Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd. 'I woke up in the morning with this on my mind. I don't want to see another victim.'

The losses of both Wright and Floyd were acknowledged in Tuesday's protests. Demonstrators knelt for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, to symbolize the amount of time authorities say Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck.

And just as the Floyd family did last year, the Wright family is looking for more answers surrounding their loved one's death.

One of the family's attorneys, Jeffrey Storms, told CNN that Gannon's explanation -- that the shooting appeared to be an accident -- 'is by no means proper or enough.'

'There were a number of intentional events that led to (Daunte Wright) being dead, and we need to find out exactly why each one of those intentional events happened,' Storms said Tuesday.

'Grabbing your sidearm that you've likely deployed thousands, if not tens of thousands, of times is an intentional act,' Storms said. 'A sidearm feels different than a Taser. It looks different than a Taser. (It) requires different pressure in order to deploy it.'

Wright's father, Aubrey Wright, told ABC on Tuesday that he couldn't accept Gannon's explanation that Sunday's shooting was accidental.

'I can't accept that -- a mistake. That doesn't even sound right,' he told ABC's 'Good Morning America.' He cited the officer's length of service -- authorities said she'd been with Brooklyn Center police for 26 years.

Wright's mother, Katie Wright, said she wanted to see the officer 'held accountable for everything that she's taken from us.'

'It should have never, ever escalated the way it did,' Katie Wright told ABC.

Wright was with his girlfriend Sunday afternoon, driving to the house of his older brother, Damik Bryant.

Officers pulled him over in Brooklyn Center for an expired tag and learned he had an outstanding warrant, police said. The warrant was for a gross misdemeanor weapons charge, according to the news release from Orput's office.

Wright gave officers his name before calling his mother, Bryant said. His mother, Katie Wright, told reporters that Daunte Wright called her, and she heard a police officer ask him to put down his phone and get out of the car.

Daunte told her he'd explain why he was pulled over after he exited, she said. She eventually heard police ask him to hang up, and then scuffling, before the call ended, she said.

Body camera footage released Monday shows Wright standing outside his vehicle with his arms behind his back and an officer directly behind him, trying to handcuff him. An officer tells Wright 'don't,' before Wright twists away and gets back into the driver's seat of the car.

Orput's office said Potter 'pulled her Glock 9mm handgun with her right hand and pointed it at Wright.'

The officer whose camera footage was released is heard warning the man she's going to use her Taser on him, before repeatedly shouting, 'Taser! Taser! Taser!' It's at this point that Orput's office says Potter 'pulled the trigger on her handgun' and fired one round into the left side of Wright.

'Wright immediately said, 'ah, he shot me,' and the car sped away for a short distance before crashing into another vehicle and stopping,' the release said.

Then, the officer is heard screaming, 'Holy sh*t! I just shot him.'

An ambulance was called and Wright was pronounced dead at the scene, Orput's release states.

Gannon said the portion of body-worn camera footage released Monday led him to believe the shooting was accidental and that the officer's actions before the shooting were consistent with the department's training on Tasers.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension examined Potter's duty belt and found her handgun is holstered on the right side of her belt, while the Taser is on the left side, according to a news release from Orput's office.

Citing a criminal complaint, the release said the Taser is yellow with a black grip and is set in a straight-draw position, 'meaning Potter would have to use her left hand to pull the Taser out of its holster.'

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Protesters gather at Brooklyn Center police station hours after ex-officer is charged in the death of Daunte Wright - WTVA

There are more than enough shots to go around in communities such as Hartsville, Tenn., the seat of Trousdale County, a quiet town tucked in the wooded hills northeast of Nashville.

It's a county that is nearly 90% white and where Donald Trump won nearly 75% of the votes in 2020. There was no special planning to reach underserved communities here, other than the inmates at the state prison, which experienced one of the nation's largest correctional facility outbreaks of COVID-19.

But now Tennessee, like much of the nation, is finding that rural, white residents need a little more coaxing to roll up their sleeves for the shot. This week, the state published results from a statewide survey, and a focus group of unvaccinated residents. More than 45% of white, rural conservatives said they were unwilling even to consider taking the vaccine.

"There's nothing inherently unique about living in a rural area that makes people balk at getting vaccinated. It's just that rural areas have a larger share of people in the most vaccine-resistant groups: Republicans and white evangelical Christians," says Drew Altman, president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The foundation's latest survey data find that more rural residents have been fully vaccinated than urban dwellers. But this is likely because there haven't been the same long waits in rural areas to get the vaccine. And now the initial demand has tapered to a drip. Currently, the number of rural residents (21%) saying they'll never get the vaccine is twice the number (10%) in urban areas.

On a recent weekend in Hartsville, the local health department had trouble filling up even half the spots for a COVID-19 vaccination event at the high school. Down the street at the Piggly Wiggly grocery store, Cris Weske, 43, stopped in to buy a can of dipping tobacco. He says he isn't even tempted to get the COVID-19 vaccine, no matter how widely available it is.

"Somebody like me that's healthy, with a survival rate of 99%, I don't need it," he says. "I don't want to put that toxin I'm kind of anti-vax, period."

Weske, who is wearing a "We the People" T-shirt, says the U.S. Constitution protects his choice to opt out of the massive nationwide vaccination effort.

Public health officials in Tennessee expected to face some reluctance when the COVID-19 vaccine finally arrived. But they were surprised to realize that the most stubborn group might be white, largely conservative residents in rural Tennessee.

National polling by NPR, PBS NewsHour and Marist finds that rural, white Republicans particularly supporters of Trump's are among the least likely to get a vaccine. The issue is evident in state-by-state vaccination rates, with Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee trailing the rest of the country. The White House has begun launching new initiatives targeting so-called red states, such as setting up partnerships with NASCAR, professional sports and even country music.

"We voted for Trump, but Trump's got nothing to do with us not taking the vaccine," says Hartsville's Cindi Kelton, 67, as she loads dog food and milk into her minivan outside the Piggly Wiggly. "We were planning on taking it until our doctor passed away."

More scared of the vaccine than the virus

Her physician, Raymond Fuller of Gallatin, Tenn., died of COVID-19 in late January. It's unclear whether he had been vaccinated. Either way, Kelton worried the vaccine could have played a role despite how safe it has been shown to be in rigorous clinical trials.

Kelton has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and emphysema lung diseases that put her at high risk of complications with COVID-19 but maintains she's still more scared of the vaccine than the virus.

In many rural communities, scant attention has been paid to batting down rumors or answering vaccine questions. Public health officials in Tennessee and other Southern states have been far more focused on building trust with Black and immigrant groups concentrated in urban areas. And even their outreach in rural communities has targeted those traditionally underserved groups.

But some leaders of rural communities are the ones actively sowing doubts. They include state legislators pushing anti-vaccine legislation and even a few pastors piping up on Sunday mornings. Greg Locke is an outspoken white preacher in Mount Juliet, Tenn., who peppers his sermons with mocking questions.

"People say, 'Well, what are you going to do when they make the vaccine mandatory?' " he asks an audience gathered without masks in late March. "I'm going to tell them to take a hike, like I've been telling them to take a hike. That's what I'm going to do."

Southern states, where vaccination rates are the lowest in the country, have frequently turned to ministers, seeing them as key allies who are trusted at the local level. But it's mostly Black churches, from Mississippi to Georgia, that have agreed to hold informational town halls or organize and host vaccine events.

In recent days, some key white evangelical leaders have stepped forward to advocate more loudly for vaccinations. Among them is J.D. Greear, president of the Southern Baptist Convention. But Greear pastors a church in Durham, N.C. hardly a conservative stronghold. And the responses to Greear on social media were impassioned and even irate exposing how divided many conservative churchgoers are.

The white Baptist pastors in Hartsville, when contacted for this story, declined to weigh in, saying they were leaving the decision entirely up to members of their congregations.

"Wait and see"

Pastor Omarn Lee, a hospital chaplain in Nashville, has been working with Black churches in Tennessee to promote vaccination. He says the concerns in Black congregations in his city aren't that different from what he hears from rural, white communities.

" 'We don't trust the government, and we don't trust Joe Biden' is what they say, right?" he says.

But Lee notes that, six months ago, Black communities were saying the same thing when Trump was in office. "Anytime you have a marginalized person, you have people who [feel] left out, they're going to be skeptical."

Skepticism about the vaccine, Lee says, can be overcome if there's an intentional effort to reach people where they are.

But in small towns such as Hartsville, there hasn't been much attention on the issue. People are less likely to hear the message from church leaders, and other communication can be more limited. There's not much in the way of local media providing information about how to sign up and where to go.

"I don't even have a computer. I'm old school," says Brenda Kelley, a 74-year-old widow who says she didn't even know she was eligible to get the vaccine yet, much less that tons of shots are available. The vaccination event at a nearby high school was advertised mostly on Facebook.

"Kinda scared to get it in a way, and in a way I want it," Kelley added. "And my children, neither of them want it. So I don't know."

Plus, Kelley has her own questions she'd like answered first such as whether her diabetes, while elevating her risk of developing serious COVID-19, might also cause problems with the vaccine. Health officials say the vaccine is safe for people like her, but she wants to hear it from her doctor.

"It's not a never thing," she concludes. Just a "wait and see."

This story comes from NPR's health reporting partnership with Nashville Public Radio and Kaiser Health News.

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'It's Not A Never Thing' White, Rural Southerners Hesitant To Get COVID Vaccine - KPCW

Keba Konte started Red Bay Coffee in his garage. Seven years later, its hard to imagine Oakland without Red Bay, which has five locations including a mobile coffee van and is something of an institution, drawing the Towns coolest and best-dressed, never making coffee culture feel elite or out of reach. This is the very intentional work of Konte, whos set on reframing coffee the high quality, traceable stuff, that is as something everyone can and should enjoy, not just the domain of stuffy cafes in expensive neighborhoods.

And its not just coffee that Konte aims to make more accessible: Before coronavirus restrictions made in-person gathering difficult, he also used his cafe spaces to host panels and workshops for entrepreneurs of color. As Red Bay grows, he wants to see other local businesses coming up, too.

As Konte told me during a conversation last year, hes focused on making all of Red Bays cafe spaces unapologetically welcoming to Black and brown people: By putting Africa on the wall, by not exploiting our farmers with pictures of them smiling with sweat and dirty hands that theyre not directly benefiting from. Africa is, quite literally, on the wall at the Red Bay roastery location on East 10th Street in Fruitvale, where an enormous living outline of the continent houses lush hanging vines. Before the pandemic, friends gathered below this living wall to drink coffee and catch up.

While indoor seating remains paused at the roastery, Red Bays new cafe, at the corner of Oaklands International Boulevard and Fruitvale Avenue, handily solves the problem of seating, and space. Its housed in what was once a bank, a towering three-story building that now features 11,000 square feet equipped to host panel discussions on entrepreneurship for Black and brown business owners, produce videos for Red Bays YouTube channel, and turn out full meals and warm baked goods. Of course, theres also a beautiful, sleek coffee bar, where customers can enjoy an espresso, and during the right season, a yam latte a take on the pumpkin spice latte, only more delicious, in this writers humble opinion.

Painted along the crown of the pillared building in bold white lettering is Red Bays motto: Beautiful Coffee To The People, and these words are something of a guiding light as the business expands. The towering space, crested with dozens of sculpted gold lions heads, would draw attention in any neighborhood. Its particularly notable that in this East Oakland neighborhood, what was once a bank, and was later reincarnated as a check cashing business and a 99 cent store, now houses what Konte reckons is the only specialty coffee shop along the 100-block stretch between here and Lake Merritt. Instead of betting on an Oakland neighborhood where third wave coffee shops are already a dime a dozen, or setting down roots in a downtown San Francisco outpost, Konte chose a space just blocks from Red Bays roastery, and a five minute walk from his own home. Choosing this new location, Konte says, was very intentional. Were trying to make specialty coffee and beautiful experiences more accessible, and make this a space where people in the neighborhood and the community have access to coffee experiences like this.

After last weeks soft opening, Red Bays new location will have its grand opening today, with a mariachi band at noon, the Afro-Brazilian drum troupe SambaFunk! at 3:30 p.m., and, of course, coffee all day. Here, Konte gives Eater readers a look into some of the most significant design decisions in this enormous new space, and talks through his choice to set Red Bays new headquarters in the neighborhood he calls home.

In 2014, the bank building was gutted by a fire, leaving the superstructure but very little else intact. This building has just been a blight since its burned down. And quite frankly, even before it burned down, it was a blight, says Konte. It was not a welcoming space. And this corner really just deserves so much more.

During the cafes opening festivities, Konte is honoring the neighborhoods many identities. The celebration, which started with Chinese lion dancers from the Hung Sing Martial Arts Academy yesterday, and continues today with a mariachi band and an Afro-Brazilian drum troupe, is a nod to the many communities that have built businesses and homes along International Boulevard. Theres no shortage of noise in the neighborhood. From the sideshows in the middle of this intersection, to the loud ass trains, to all the booming car stereos. But we just kind of want to bring some of our own noise, says Konte. So were going to have this series of live music performances. The thing about International Boulevard is that 20-plus years ago, it was East 14th Street. But they changed the name to International Boulevard, and I think thats probably one of the best names they could have given it. Because when you start on this boulevard from the lake, youre going through Chinatown, and then Southeast Asian communities, and then through Latinx communities, and then into the Black neighborhood, all the way into San Fernando, into the whiter neighborhoods. I wanted our opening celebration to reflect those cultures and those nations. The opening celebrations are a representation, says Konte, of the way International Boulevard changes as you move East from the lake, eventually arriving at Red Bays towering new home.

Save for an 18-inch-walled concrete vault that weathered the fire, the guts of the bank building have been completely reimagined and updated. The space was largely designed by Red Bays Chief of Brand Rachel Konte, who is also married to Keba. The open layout is bright, modern, and full of ferns and hanging plants. A long bar with an astounding number of electrical outlets stretches along a wall of huge windows, offering plenty of seating for those who want to stay for a while and enjoy the atmosphere.

As simple as it sounds, were providing a place to sit down, and have a cappuccino in a ceramic cup, says Konte. Weve all been drinking out of paper cups for so long, during the pandemic, that even the smallest things like this are such a pleasure and luxury.

Right now, the pastry case is filled with goods from partnered bakeries, but soon, the new kitchen will be churning out fresh-baked hand pies, and welcoming in visiting chefs to host pop-up events. [Our food program] is still in development. In the meantime, we just really wanted to get the doors opened and launch the coffee program, says Konte. But we are developing African hand pies think empanadas, but a bit more African- and Caribbean-inspired. Vegetarian, savory hand pies, that will be made here and available here hot, and well have those available in our other shops as well.

The pride and joy of the new space is, unsurprisingly, the coffee bar. Until now, Red Bay locations have all been built to fit the constrictions of tight or unconventional spaces. Theres a coffee van, a small storage container fashioned into a coffee box, and the roastery location, set in a large warehouse. This space, as Konte puts it, has all the needed elbow room. That means space for a long, beautiful coffee counter. The centerpiece of the bar is a sparkling Sanremo, an Italian-made machine programed differently for each of the cafes three different espressos. Espresso is a science and an art. So were trying to sort of narrow the variables, Konte says. With this machine, the baristas are able to dial in that espresso experience, and produce something thats lovely.

When building out the long counter, Keba and Rachel were presented with three options: wood, stone, or concrete. They decided to go a different direction entirely. Inspired by the design of cafes in Copenhagen, they chose a linoleum. It has just an unbelievable array of colors, Konte says. It is soft to the touch, and an environmentally friendly material. Wood gets kind of sticky. Stone and concrete is always so cold, and so hard.

On the plum-colored linoleum coffee bar is a pourover coffee station, which Konte built himself. I hand built it out of rebar and recycled wood. It did turn out pretty nice.

The cafes second and third floor are reserved for Red Bays many behind-the-scenes and post-covid projects. As Red Bay continues to expand, six rooms of offices will handle administrative tasks. This new space will also allow for Red Bay to take its expansion online. I think the space is very, very photogenic. And so well be shooting our own how-to videos, and filming things in the kitchen, says Konte. When capacity restrictions are lifted further and indoor gathering is deemed safer, Konte says there will be more in person events, including latte art throw-downs.

The cafes third floor remains something of a mystery, with Konte hesitant to say exactly what will soon occupy the 4000-square-foot space. He says Red Bay is in the final weeks of working out what he describes as a significant partnership, that will move into the space and act as a support for entrepreneurs and fledgling businesses that are in need of a jumpstart.

Thats always been part of what Red Bay is: being a model of entrepreneurialism. And we will have various engagements and workshops around fundraising for startups and entrepreneurs in various stages of business. We will bring in various partners that help entrepreneurs, to either raise capital or build their business plans.

Of course, plenty of the people walking into this new space arent looking to start a new business, or win a latte art competition they just want coffee. Theyll be well served, and Konte hopes theyll stay a while, to bask in the light that pours in through the cafes enormous two-story windows. Were just bathed in light, I mean we basically are getting light all day, he says. I believe people are going to travel far and wide to come and enjoy a coffee experience, or tea, or juice or some African hand pies. This neighborhood wants more and deserves more than weve been getting. Were not dumbing down the concept because were not in San Francisco or in Jack London Square. We believe that people in the hood, in the community, want and deserve nice things. And were here to bring it.

Red Bay Coffees opening festivities begin today, Monday, April 12, with a mariachi band at 12 p.m., and an Afro-Brazilian drum troupe at 3:30 p.m. Regular hours will be 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., seven days a week.

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Red Bay Coffees Massive New Oakland Space Brings Coffee to the People - Eater SF

I am John P. Nickum and seeking election for the position of Bridge City, City Council, Place 3 in the May 1st election with early voting beginning April 19th 27th.

I was blessed to be raised in Bridge City and graduated from Bridge City High School in 1993. I am the son of Bill and Ellen Nickum, who have been actively serving in the community since 1965. Having been reared in a home where the emphasis and importance of giving back to your community were instilled in the family.

I have lived in Bridge City for most of my life and the community has become a part of me. During the years that I did not live in Bridge City, I attended Lamar University and The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, where I obtained a business degree in Healthcare Administration. I immediately began utilizing my education after graduation from UTMB, by beginning my professional career with M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas as part of the Grants and Research Administration Department. During my tenure at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, I was fortunate to acquire a tremendous amount of knowledge while negotiating both the grants and the contracts between the doctors' at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center who were attempting to perform the new forms of cancer research, the Federal Drug Administration, the State of Texas and countless pharmaceutical companies all of which strived to conduct ongoing cancer research. It was during this portion of my professional career that significantly impacted my perspective involving the perceived barriers to progress and sustainable solutions. I understood that with a common goal and understanding of the beneficial purpose between all parties involved, a viable and amicable solution could be found to any problem.

The opportunity was presented to me to come back to this area and begin a new career as a life specialist with State Farm and later to being appointed as an agent in Vidor, Texas. In my present position as an agent with State Farm and having been a small business owner for over 20 years. I have had to acquire the skill to productively interact with State Farm clients, my employees, and local governmental entities in difficult situations to ultimately achieve an amicable solution for all parties involved.

My interest began in city government while pursuing a Master's in Business Administration through Lamar University in Beaumont. It was through this interest that I began to increase my awareness through my involvement with the Vidor's Chamber of Commerce, Fresh Start Program and Rotary intervention programs in the community. Having had the opportunity to gain the hands-on-experience of working with various local governmental entities, I began to notice the common issues that plaque most local communities. My desire to serve increased with my awareness after continuously noticing reoccurring obstacles that plagued most local cities within Orange County. I saw strategic channels for growth, ways to help increase the local tax base and the potential opportunity to relieve some of the burden from the tax payers. Solutions can be found by working together for a common understood purpose and cause.

I have always had a passion for serving others and currently serve on a state disaster relief chainsaw team for the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief ministry and serve as a credential chainsaw trainer for the Southern Baptist Texas Convention. During the storms this past year, Laura and Delta, we began cutting trees off of homes in my hometown the morning Laura hit Bridge City. We continued to cut trees off of homes in the surrounding cities in the area. I have helped and continue to help people in need by mudding out and repair homes through a mission program organized through my church at Calvary Baptist Church in Beaumont.

There are many citizens that I do know, some that I have had to the opportunity to meet recently and those that I will be fortunate to meet in the near future. My wife, Christy and I have been married nine years and have three children, Coleman, Nate and Abigail. Coleman will be graduating in May from Baylor University with an Environmental Science degree. Nate will be graduating from Monsignor Kelly Catholic High School in May and will be attending Texas Christian University in the fall. Our youngest daughter, Abigail, is currently a junior at Monsignor Kelly Catholic High School and currently plans to attend Auburn University.

I would like to ask you for your support, through taking action and voting for a candidate who is passionate about serving others in the community. I will be intentional about my commitment to be proactive in my approach to make our Bridge City community one of growth and prosperity. I would appreciate your support and look forward to meeting you in the near future.

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John Nickum seeks BC City Council seat - The Record Newspapers - TheRecordLive.com

Richmond Kickers midfielder Mumbi Kwesele split his college career between Barry University and Humboldt State University before his soccer journey took him overseas. Before I got to Richmond, I spent a year in the Basque Country of Spain playing for Real Unin Club de Irun, Kwesele told BGN. I wasnt surprised at the level of quality I played with and against each week overseas but I quickly figured out that the game was also incredibly physical too.

Most people associate the Spanish with beautiful possession soccer but some of the ugliest and scrappiest games Ive ever played in happened there; ultimately, the majority of teams were more concerned with the result of the game than with the way it looked and that provided a lot of opportunities for me to grow tactically in different positions. Off the field, I think I was humbled every single day because as a foreigner, I was constantly facing some kind of adversity whether that was learning Spanish or familiarizing myself with the different cultural customs of both the country and region.

Last February, the Seattle native was able to return to the United States and sign with Richmond. He made six appearances, three starts, for the Kickers in 2020 and registered an assist. Mumbi explained, I think I showed bits and pieces of what I am capable of in 2020 in multiple positions. Injuries were a major hurdle for me last season and if Im going to have a bigger impact, I need to be healthy.

Now, Kwesele is back with the Kickers for the 2021 USL League One season. Im really happy to be back in Richmond this year because we have a really great group of people who are all on the same page when it comes to the vision of what our club can be, he said. I feel like this club is the right place for me with the kind of culture weve created and my continued development as a player and person.

I expect to contribute when Im called on to do so, I just need to be available and ready. I expect this team to take the season one game at a time with the confidence and quality to beat any team on any day.

Kwesele and the Kickers will get their first chance to get a win this season tomorrow when they travel to face New England Revolution II in their season opener. Kickoff is set for 5 PM Eastern and the match will be live on ESPN+.

While blazing his own path in the soccer landscape, Mumbi is also looking to help the next generation find their footing. The Rising Point is an organization I founded with my brother, Mutanda in 2016 with a mission to develop quality people and build community, particularly focusing on underserved communities that are oftentimes unable to access club soccer, he said. For me, one of the most significant aspects of this project is the way my older brother has made an intentional effort to go to neighborhoods where the children we work with have similar upbringings as we did.

As the children of African immigrants, my brother and I are aware of the political, social, and economic barriers that stand in the way of our advancement as individuals and as people. Historically, these kids that look like us have not had real opportunities to excel and this is the result of the resources they are provided with (or not provided with), not because of a lack of ambition or talent. The Rising Point is a project that aims to fill that gap and help these children grow to be more aware, intentional, and responsible both on and off the field.

Recently, Mumbi also launched the ELEVATE Training Program. ELEVATE has a similar mission and ideology as The Rising Point and is a personal project I have been working on while I am distant from my brother due to our current work situations, he said. The biggest strength that my brother and I can possibly have is our unity so we will be collaborating again very soon.

As you can tell, family is very important to Kwesele. Since I was young, my entire family has been incredibly supportive of my soccer journey, he said. My brother, Mutanda and I have a special bond because we have both tried to go the distance and excel at the highest levels of the game possible. He has been my coach and mentor for as long as I can remember and I dont know if I would be where I am today without him.

Ive been lucky to be able to follow the example of such a dedicated, hard-working, and humble individual like him. I think that every young person needs someone like him to guide, support, and love them every step of their journey.

Kwesele is also appreciative of the support he and the club receive from Elliot Barr, who co-hosts the River City 93 and Can I Kick It? podcasts along with Chenier Durand II. Discussing what it means to him to see a podcast of two Black men covering the Kickers in a media landscape that desperately needs more diversity, Mumbi said, It makes me incredibly proud to see Elliot and River City 93 doing a brilliant job of covering our club and being a reference point for the soccer community both here in Richmond and abroad. Its true, there needs to be more diversity in media in this sport; this is not a new sentiment or challenge to both our sport and society.

The fact that we need to continue to speak this out loud says a lot about how far we have to go. For many individuals and organizations, this means drastically rethinking and restructuring the way things have been done in the past in order to provide more pathways forward for diverse voices and perspectives in media, coaching positions, and front offices.

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Mumbi Kwesele has found a true soccer home with the Richmond Kickers - Beautiful Game Network

Attendees at a vigil for the Atlanta shooting victims held in Hing Hay Park in March hold their hands up in solidarity. Photo by Auriza Ugalino.

As the nation is struggling to recover from a tumultuous year of the coronavirus, a summer of social unrest, and a contentious election the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community is gearing up for yet another battle.

While gearing up for yet another battle. While the nefarious adversary is a familiar foe, the rules of engagement have led to a more deathly development.

Amid the rise in anti-Asian rhetoric that has led to a spike in racially based assaults against the AAPI community nationwide, a recent unconscionable act of violence has left eight people dead in Atlanta, GA (among those six Asian women).

Shot dead by a white male.

In response, local officials around the country vow to take action by implementing new safety procedures and increasing the amount of police patrol in predominantly AAPI enclaves, However, this only heightens the anxiety since more police presence rarely means that the community is a safer place.

Simply mandating policies is not enough prevention, implementation and accountability are essential. Laws alone will never inspire a genuinely just society. Only addressing the deeper issues that plague our community and hearts can do that.

And while this senseless act of violence is egregious and appalling, should any of us truly be surprised by the escalation of violence while accounting for our own indifference to Americas longstanding history of perpetually finding a scapegoat for all our fears and failures?

In this pivotal moment of transition, as traditional ways of living are being challenged, deep-seated fears have emerged of loss of status and privilege. Radical ideologies spewed by white supremacists and politicians alike act as a guiding light to those who have underachieved in life as to where to direct blame for their anger and insecurities inviolent and irrational ways.

As witnessed during the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which was one of the first ethnic based immigration laws of our county, and the WWII Japanese Internment Camps, in which multitudes of American citizens were incarcerated solely based on their heritage, the AAPI community has been all too familiar with being the targets of these unwarranted notions.

The recent ICE raids and historical criminalization of immigrant poverty further reaffirms these racist principles.

Take Texas representative Chip Roys statement in the wake of the Atlanta shooting, for instance. By exploiting a U.S. House Judiciary Committee hearing on rising anti-Asian violence to instead voice his frustration with Black Lives Matter protest for equality, rather than showing concern and respect to those AAPIs who have been harmed, he illustrates just how much this disillusion rhetoric continues to divide us. And by reawakening shameful and outdated lynching speech to drive home his points, he further exposes just how far into our politics this hate has infiltrated. Or could it be that this deep-rooted hate has always existed and just now becoming more visible?

And though it is clear that a majority of the recent attacks against the AAPI community have been racially motivated, we cannot ignore that this deep tragedy has highlighted the deep complexities of intersectional hate and oppression that across establish lines of race, gender, sexual orientation and class resulting in the continuous marginalization of women, gender non-conforming, LGBTQQA+, and immigrants of our community.

The fact that during the Cherokee County Sheriffs Department press briefing, spokesperson Captain Jay Baker would rationalize the shooters actions as a case of having a bad day or giving credibility to the theory that somehow this has something to do with a sexual addiction and that he was eliminating temptation is not only disrespectful, hurtful, and ignorant it demonstrates just how callous the criminal justice system is towards underserved immigrant communities in particular, Asian women.

By centering the voice of the shooter, Captain Jay Baker breathed life into a narrative that somehow the victims were at fault. That they could have potentially been illegal sex workers who did not deserve to live, let alone be protected. And essentially perpetuates a culture that fetishizes Asian women as hyper-sexual beings.

These harmful sexualized myths have been constructed to justify the violence social control used to maintain racially gendered hierarchies in which Asian women have paradoxically been vilified AND prized.

Yet as some excuse, Representative Roy and Captain Bakers comments as unintentional or misguided, or even dismissed them as harmful banter, I beg to differ. Because nothing is more intentional than hate. And nothing can be more harmful than our deliberate disregard for their self serving willful ignorance.

And though it is obvious that hateful rhetoric from both white supremacist and figures like Chip Roy and Jay Baker are dangerous, they alone are not the problem. Our communities historical indifference to discrimination that has not directly impacted us has allowed this hate to fester and mutate to attack shifting realities and created the conditions in which the marginalized are left even more vulnerable. For that, we all have blood on our hands.

For too long we have stood by silently, ashamed of the status quo, yet too afraid to challenge it. And are refusing refusal to stand up to discrimination makes cowards of us all.

As a cisgender heterosexual man who has been privileged and benefits from a patriarchal society, I recognize our failures in supporting the work and needs of families in our community who have been the target of some of the most vicious attacks. My response has to be better. Our response has to be better. Because as long as we were able to separate ourselves from others in our community and view them as lesser than, the easier it is for a conscience to bear the brutality of a current reality. And that is a cop out.

A day after the Atlanta shooting, I was reminded that I should call to check on my best friend my sister. Shes tiny in stature but what she lacks in size she makes up for in her resiliency and fighting spirit. So the anguish and despair I heard in her voice broke my heart. As an Asian-American, who knows what she was going through that day? Heck, I didnt even know what I was going through.

During a later call, in an attempt to cheer her up, I made some jokes. However, I could tell she was only laughing to appease me. When the awkwardness subsided and I gave into the fact that Im just not good at this crap, I asked her what I could do to make her feel better. Thats what you do for people you love, right? Her answer was simple, yet prolific.

Check in more and ask questions.

Wow. With just one sentence, she inspired change.

Within these prison walls where I am a current occupant of cell C137L, my fellow colleagues and I across all ethnicities, gender, classes and orientations have agreed to begin initiating discussions among our peers in the how we can improve the ways we show up for our community, and we will be having constructive dialogue allow for true partnership equitable changes for all. That begins by challenging toxic masculinity, having tough meaningful conversations, and learning from those most impacted by asking questions and listening intently.

Now THAT is what you do for the people you love.

And though grief is sometimes a wound that never heals we cannot allow our grief to paralyze us. Because each recent incident of tragedy represents a discerning revelation about who we are as a people just as the moments of resistance against them will reveal something about who we aspire to be.

Felix Sitthivong #354579 is an organizer and advisor for the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Awareness Group (APICAG). He served as chapter president at Clallam Bay Corrections Center between 2015 to 2019 before being transferred and uprooted due to allegations of organizing a food/work strike to protest the discrimination of prisoners within the Washington State Department of Corrections. He is credited with designing an Asian American Studies course, helping to found and co-create an Anti-Domestic Violence program and subsequent Intersectional Feminism 101 class. He has also organized and hosted multiple immigration, social justice, and youth outreach forums all available through the APICAG. He is currently serving 65 years at the Washington State Reformatory Unit in Monroe Washington for charges including murder, attempted murder, and first-degree assault. His earliest release date is August 31, 2073.

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What you do for the people you love - The International Examiner