The Skinny on COVID
The latest in numbers: 33M total cases & 581K deaths (+287K & +4K from last week)
The headlines:
Wanna know how the vaccines stack up against the variants? Look here.
The US now supports waiving vaccine patents, making it easier for developing countries to make their own. While it may seem like the Biden administration is being a hero, they were previously against sharing the vaccine patents.
Dr. Fauci says aloud what we been knew: the official COVID death toll is way lower than they should be.
The Olympics and Political Statements Don’t Mix
The Olympics wants you to take your social protests somewhere else. The 2021 games, which will be held in Tokyo, will ban all apparel related to BLM and any form of social protest. Everyone is acting surprised, but why should we be? Remember when they expelled John Carlos and Tommie Smith from the 1968 competition for putting their fists up? Yeah.
Where You Going, Keisha?
Atlanta’s mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has declined to run for reelection. Where do you think her ambitions will take her next?
Keeping Up with Biden & Harris
Week before last, Joe Biden announced a plan to ban menthol cigarettes. Advocates say these more addictive cigarettes have been heavily marketed to our community and subsequently, caused disproportionate health impacts. Others, however, say that the law is discriminatory against Black folks because it’ll only outlaw a product that is especially popular to us and not any tobacco products predominantly enjoyed by other groups of people. Damned if you do...
Kamala Harris plans to travel to Mexico and Central America to address the heavy migration coming out of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.
The weak jobs report that came back last week has folks questioning whether Biden’s economic plans are really working.
Congress, What’s Good?
Imagine walking into work and telling everybody that you’re only there to collect your check and to actively work against every business objective the company has. That’s basically what Mitch McConnell said about working with the Biden administration (and both Obama administrations, TBH). Who told these grown ass people that it was cute to be obstructive like that? Their voters, we guess. Le sigh.
Also, threats against Congress have doubled in 2021. Guess Mitch is okay with letting it slide since his President is the one responsible for that.
Up next in meetings & committees this week:
Reviewing how Capitol police assessed the threat the January 6 Capitol attack
Reforming the tax code’s loopholes for the wealthy
Criminal Justice Round Up
San Francisco is diverting $3.75M from its police budget to support Black-owned businesses.
Georgia’s governor is on a roll. Not long after making headlines for that restrictive voting rights law, Brian Kemp just signed a bill banning any efforts to defund police departments in his state.
After the murder of Daunte Wright, the mayor of Brooklyn Center, MN is proposing a decrease in the powers that police officers have during traffic stops.
And on that note, this is what we mean when we say politics is more local than anything else. Mayors (maybe now excluding those in Georgia) have the ability to influence how policing is done in our communities.
Around the Diaspora
Air Senegal will soon offer direct flights from Dakar to New York and Washington, DC.
Take a look at how the Motherland is managing COVID, by the numbers.
After about a month on high alert, St. Vincent has reduced its volcano risk levels to orange from red.
Getting to the Money
The UNCF & Target is providing $5K scholarships to one thousand first-year Black students attending HBCUs. Pass this information on to any incoming freshmen you know.
2021’s virtual CultureCon will be offered for free.99 this year through a partnership with Square. If you already bought a ticket, never fear. All tickets purchased previously should have already been refunded.
Buying Black
Black people add sauce to everything we do. Check out Proper Gnar, where Black Girl Magic meets all things skateboarding for your skating needs.
Culture that Pops
Beyonce, Usher, and Stevie Wonder will be among the first legends honored as Black Music and Entertainment Walk of Fame inductees.
This 9 year-old turned her pain from being bullied into a booming nail polish business.
Naomi Osaka is opening up sports academies for kids in Los Angeles and Haiti.