The Greene County Physicians Clinic has now received the new bivalent covid (Moderna) vaccine. We have the primary vaccine and the booster. the booster is for ages 6 and older. The bivalent booster will protect you from the Omicron and other newer variants of the virus.
Since the restrictions for the usage and storage for the covid vaccine is so restricted, we have set up the following guidelines:
We are taking appointments only for the vaccine. Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11am-1pm and 3pm till 4pm , starting Thursday January 19th 2023. The Covid vaccine patients will be put in a different room and given the vaccine, then asked to wait in another room to observe them for the required 30 minutes after the vaccination. If we have any extra vaccines leftover for that day, we will call around the departments to see if anyone is wanting a vaccine. The unused vaccine for the day will need to be discarded.
We have also sent an email or a phone call or voice mail, to the local business and schools in our area to see if they are interested in the vaccination. We will post a flyer in the hospital and the clinic to make our patients aware of the vaccine, and post on social media.
We also have the flu shot available and the HPV vaccine available to patients aged 9 – 40 years of age for males and females . If you are needing info on the HPV vaccine, please contact us.
To make your appointment, call the Greene County Physicians Clinic at 205-372-3388 and then press 4.
Jan. 16, 2023 (GIN) Africa was ever on the mind of Martin Luther King Jr. and his concerns for the continent appear in in his many papers in the King Institute.
MLK spoke out about the Congo at an event celebrating the independence of Kenya. “There are many problems on a world scale today and one of them is the Congo.”
“The Congo problem can be solved when there is a withdrawal of all foreign troops and mercenaries,” he said. “The problem must be solved by negotiations, with the United Nations offering its assistance.”
“We must not rest in any nation until the problem is solved in South Africa. I called for a massive boycott of that country because of the vicious regime existing there.”
In another speech in Stockholm Cathedral, Dr. King said there could be no peace in the world as long as conditions such as those in Mississippi and South Africa continued.
And at an Africa Freedom Dinner at Atlanta University at the end of a five week U.S. tour by Kenyan nationalist leader Tom Mboya, Dr. King observed: “Our struggle is not an isolated one. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.”
“As you well know,” he continued, “there is a great revolution going on all over our world. And we think of the fact that just thirty or forty years ago there were only two countries in Africa that had independence at that particular time—that was Liberia and Ethiopia. And today eight countries have been added to that number, and in 1960 four more will be added: Somalia, Togoland, the Cameroons and the largest country in Africa, Nigeria.
“This reveals that an old order is passing away. And our guest speaker is one of the great leaders in this struggle for freedom and independence.
“And in a real sense what we are trying to do in the South and in the United States is a part of this worldwide struggle for freedom and human dignity. Our struggle is not an isolated struggle; it is not a detached struggle, but it is a part of 1959 the worldwide revolution for freedom and justice.”
So we are concerned about what is happening in Africa and what is happening in Asia because we are a part of this whole movement. And we want Mr. Mboya to know, as he prepares to go back to Africa.” That we go with him iin spirit and with our moral support and even with our financial support.
“Certainly injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. And so long as problems exist in Africa, or in Asia, or in any section of the United States, we must be concerned about it.”
“I hope as a result of this meeting we will go out with grim and bold determination to make the ideal of first-class citizenship a reality. And that we will go away with a new concern for Africa and Asia and all of the oppressed peoples over the world as they struggle to realize the dream of brotherhood and man’s love for all men.”
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
Rep. Barbara Lee plans to run for the Senate, a decision that comes despite fellow Democrat and incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein having yet to announce her intentions. According to Politico, the 76-year-old Lee has told her colleagues in a closed-door Congressional Black Caucus meeting. Asked later about her plans, Lee said in a brief interview she’d officially announce, “when it’s appropriate.” “Right now, in respect to [Sen.] Dianne Feinstein and the floods and what I’m doing, I’m doing my work. And we’ll let them know when I intend to go to the next step. But now’s the time not to talk about that,” she said, according to Politico. Lee’s office didn’t return messages from the Black Press. However, Politico reported that Lee declined to say whether she’d run against 89-year-old Feinstein if the California senator chose to run again rather than retire. “I’m not really doing anything except letting colleagues know that there’ll be a time to talk about the Senate race,” she said. Lee’s decision to run comes a day after Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) also announced a bid for the seat currently held by Feinstein (D-Calif.). Politico further noted that Lee was widely seen as leading the list of potential Feinstein replacements if she were to retire early and Gov. Gavin Newsom were to choose a successor, though there’s no indication Feinstein would do so. The outlet reported that the governor vetted Lee when then-Sen. Kamala Harris departed for the vice presidency, and he publicly committed to choosing a Black woman if he had the chance to make another appointment. Some other House members had emerged as potential contenders, but Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) isn’t expected to seek the seat. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) has said he would defer a decision for a few months.
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
In a filing sent to the U.S. Supreme Court this week, the Department of Justice agreed with President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive student loans. In 2022, the president promised to forgive all outstanding student loan debt for millions of borrowers, up to a maximum of $20,000 each. Republicans are leading the way in suing the federal government to stop the plan. The Department of Justice, however, said last week in a court filing that Biden’s actions are perfectly legal. Lawyers from the Department of Justice said that Congress gave the president “clear permission” to go ahead with his plan. A federal judge in Texas invalidated a program in October that would have helped 40 million people with their student loan debt. Two people who didn’t qualify for aid under Biden’s scheme sued the initiative on behalf of the conservative Job Creators Network Foundation. At the time, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the government strongly disagreed. “The President and this Administration are determined to help working and middle-class Americans get back on their feet, while our opponents, backed by extremist Republican special interests, have sued to prohibit millions of Americans from getting much-needed relief,” Jean-Pierre remarked. The HEROES Act of 2003, according to the White House, gives the Secretary of Education the authority to forgive student debt. “The program is consequently an illegal exercise of Congress’s legislative power and must be vacated,” wrote Judge Mark Pittman, a Donald Trump nominee. “In this country, we are not dominated by an all-powerful executive with a pen and a phone,” he continued. Federal student loan debt of up to $10,000 will be forgiven for borrowers with yearly incomes of less than $125,000 in 2020 or 2021, and up to $200,000 for married couples or heads of households. Borrowers who also got a federal Pell grant might have up to $20,000 in their loans discharged. Six states with Republican governors sued to stop Biden’s plan to forgive debts. This made the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put a hold on the plan. One plaintiff in Texas lost her right to have her federal student loans forgiven because the federal government did not service her loans. Since the other plaintiff did not obtain a Pell award, the amount of debt relief to which he is entitled is just $10,000. They said they had no way of voicing their disapproval of the program’s regulations because the administration had not followed the Administrative Procedure Act’s notice and comment rule-making procedure. Elaine Parker, president of the Job Creators Network Foundation, stated in a statement, “This verdict supports the rule of law which requires all Americans to have their voices heard by their federal government.” According to CNN’s reporting, Bernie Marcus, the former CEO of Home Depot, and a key Trump donor, established the Job Creators Network Foundation. Two challenges challenging Biden’s debt relief plan will be argued before the Supreme Court in February. In February, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases. In its petition, the Justice Department said, “The lower courts’ decisions have wrongly taken away the Secretary’s legislative authority to give targeted student loan debt relief to borrowers affected by national emergencies.”
Greene County’s legislative delegation, consisting of State Senator Bobby Singleton and State Representative Curtis Travis, made recent appointments to the Greene County Racing Commission, including the re-appointment of Linette Brown and the new appointments of Morris Hardy and Donald Means. The Commissioners were sworn in on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. Brown will continue to serve as Chairperson. The Racing Commissioners serve a three-year term, and can be re-appointed. The former Commissioners, Prince Hines and Lottie Gibson had been in office for the past 17 years. Gerry Coleman serves as office manager for the Racing Commission. In 1975, the Alabama Legislature adopted Act No. 376, known as the Racing Act, which created the Greene County Racing Commission and invested this body with regulatory, licensing, and supervisory authority over pari-mutuel wagering on dog races in Greene County. Among its other provisions, the Racing Act provides that licensees must pay the Commission a license fee of up to $1,000 a year and a 4 percent tax on the total contributions to all pari-mutuel pools conducted or made on any race track licensed under the Racing Act. According to Racing Commission rules, only one facility in the county can be licensed for pari-mutual racing. Greenetrack has been the sole licensee of the Commission since obtaining its facility in 1995, and currently holds a 10 year license.
At its regular meeting on January 9, 2023, the Greene County Commission approved naming County Road 191, connecting Union and Jena as the “Lester Brown Memorial Highway” to honor the deceased District 1 commissioner. The Commission also named County Road 133 for George Hall, a former Sheriff and community leader. They also adopted a resolution honoring former Probate Judge Earlean Isaac and agreed to hang a picture of her in the county courtroom. The Commission tabled a request to pave Savior Way in District 2, near the old Eatman School, until residents sign a resolution deeding their right of way property to the County for continued maintenance of the road. The Commission approved a request from the County Engineer to apply for a $250,000 grant to repair a bridge on County Road 220. They also approved the Rebuild Alabama Report on on-going road and bridge improvements, supported with state funds. The Commission also approved advertising for equipment operators for the Greene County Highway Department and for hiring an Engineer with EIT (Engineer in Training Certification). This certification ensures that the engineer has graduated from a properly accredited engineering college, has taken the first proficiency test, and is planning to take the examination to become a PE (Professional Engineer) in the future based on more practical experiences in the field. The Commission agreed to purchase a full-page ad ($600) in the Black History issue of the Greene County Democrat. Commissioners Corey Cockrell and Roshonda Summerville abstained from voting on this motion. Mac Underwood, CFO presented a financial report for the county finances as of December 31, 2023, three months into the 2022-23 fiscal year. His report indicated $6.4 million in accounts in Citizens Trust Bank, $4 million in Merchants and Farmers bank, and $874,897 in certificates for bond sinking funds. He clarified that only a small proportion of the over $10 million in county funds was available for discretionary spending. Most of the funding is designated for specific purposes. The report shows a balance of $890,844 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, however, some of these funds have already been committed to projects. The financial report also shows claims paid for the month of December 2022 at $1,487.928.10, which includes $476,975 for payroll, $774,949 for accounts payable, and $236,404 for fiduciary expenses. Expenditures for the General Fund are in line with the budget.
Jan. 9, 2023 (GIN) – A check may soon be on its way for some of the last surviving African soldiers who fought in French wars around the world but were forced to live in France six months of the year in order to qualify for the pensions they were owed.
As a result of the six month rule, many retirees could not spend their last days in Africa with their wives and children. With the regulation now to be lifted, they will continue receiving their pension payment even if they move away permanently.
The decision on the long-awaited pensions was confirmed on Jan. 4.
“After long years of fighting, we finally won,” Aïssata Seck, president of the Association for the Defense of Senegalese Tirailleurs’ Rights (Senegalese Riflemen), tweeted.
According to Seck, there are currently less than 80 living tirailleurs. All of them are very old, with the youngest of them aged 90. A dozen live in separate rooms in a home in the Paris suburb of Bondy, where Seck serves as an elected official.
The decision, applying a “principal of tolerance” for the veterans, will be formalized in a government letter to be published in coming days.
Meanwhile, a new film featuring Omar Sy, best known for the Netflix crime series “Lupin”, highlights the forgotten heroism of African riflemen from France’s former colonies who fought in the frontline trenches of the first world war.
Inspired by the true stories of 200,000 men drafted from French colonies, the work has personal resonance for the actor who was born and raised in France by parents of Mauritanian and Senegalese origins.
Tackling the film’s anti-war theme, the magazine Le Parisien asked Sy whether he found the current conflict in Ukraine upsetting.
Sy replied that Ukraine had not been “a crazy revelation” and that other conflicts taking place further afield had already touched him in equal measure.
“A war is a dark shadow over humanity, even when it’s on the other side of the world. We remember that man is capable of invading, of attacking civilians and children. It feels like we had to wait for Ukraine for us to wake up to this.”
“When it’s far away, they say over there, they’re savages, we’re no longer like that. It’s like at the beginning of Covid, when people said, It’s only the Chinese.”
At the Cannes film festival last year, director Mathieu Vadepied said the film aimed to rectify France’s failure to recognize the riflemen and tell their story.
In Senegal, the head of the National Office for Veterans and Victims of War said the decision was overdue.
“For a long time veterans have asked to return with their pensions but were not successful. This decision will relieve them. These veterans live alone, they live in extremely difficult conditions,” said Capt. Ngor Sarr.
Sarr, 85, fought for the French military in Algeria and Mauritania and then moved to France in 1993 so he could receive his pension. He said he then lost it when he returned to Senegal 20 years later.
“Many soldiers died, they didn’t get this opportunity despite the role they played in liberating France,” said Mamadou Lamine Thiam. His father also fought in Algeria and died in 2015, aged 85.
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
The great-grandchildren of the African American couple Willa and Charles Bruce, whose land in Southern California was taken in 1924 and returned to the family last year, have opted to sell it back to the local government for $20 million. In the 1920s, the beach resort was extremely popular with African American tourists. At that time, Black people were not permitted on white beaches. The site became famously known as “Bruce’s Beach.” The children and grandchildren of Charles and Willa Bruce fought for decades to get back the land. Chief Duane Yellow Feather Shepard, a family historian and spokesman for the Bruce family, stated in a 2021 interview, “It was a very significant location because there was nowhere else along the California coast where African Americans could go to enjoy the water.” The Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacists often threatened the Bruce family, but they kept the resort open and took care of the land. In 1924, the municipal council used eminent domain to take the land to build a park. But, according to a TV show called “The Insider,” the area wasn’t used for many years. Willa and Charles Bruce fought back in court, but their compensation was only $14,000. In recent years, local officials have estimated the property’s value to be as high as $75 million. The area contains two coastal properties and is currently used for lifeguard training. Janice Hahn, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, revealed that the family would sell the property back to the local government. Hahn stated that the price was set through an appraisal. Hahn stated, “This is what reparations look like, and it is a model I hope governments around the country would adopt.” The statement made by Hahn may or may not be exactly what the Bruce family desired in addition to the restitution of their land. In 2021, Anthony Bruce, the great-great-grandson of Willa and Charles Bruce, told The New York Times, “An apology would be the least they could do.”
Washington, DC – Last Thursday, President Joe Biden signed into law the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022, a law that will ease the high costs associated with phone calls from prisons. The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP) commends President Biden for signing this bill into law, as it puts an end to the price gouging of families trying to stay connected to their loved ones who are incarcerated.
The NCBCP worked, along with tireless advocates and the civil rights community, to move this legislation through the Congress and ultimately to President Biden’s desk. Our community will remain vigilant in seeing that the Federal Communications Commission will implement the provisions of this law fairly and expediently.
The Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act is a crucial step towards ensuring that incarcerated individuals are able to maintain meaningful connections with their loved ones. Not only is this law just, it is also a compassionate law, as it helps reduce recidivism by providing incarcerated people the opportunity to stay in touch with loved ones and their community without incurring undue and exorbitant financial costs.
In 2017, Reesy Floyd-Thompson, who calls herself a “digital wonder woman,” said she had to deal with the shame of the incarceration of a significant other. Her husband’s incarceration also meant that calling him would be difficult, if not impossible. “I used to maintain a side hustle to take care of these calls alone. My husband and I used to endure monthly bills as high as $500 to stay connected,” said Floyd-Thompson, who headed an organization called “Prisoner’s Wives, Girlfriends, and Partners,” a support group for spouses and partners of those incarcerated.
Exorbitant telephone call rates have historically made it almost impossible for loved ones to keep in touch with family and friends behind bars. With rates as high as $20 per call in some areas, Congress has finally acted, and in 2023, inmates and family members will pay a lot less.
Both the House and Senate passed the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act, which gives the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the authority to guarantee reasonable charges for telephone and video calls in correctional and detention facilities.
“Too many families of incarcerated people must pay outrageous rates to stay connected with their loved ones,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel remarked in a statement.
“This harms the families and children of the incarcerated — and it harms all of us because regular contact with kin can reduce recidivism.”
“These are friends, family, and religious connections. We know from decades of correctional research studies that prosocial contacts and opportunities are important mechanisms for rehabilitation and reentry. “To the extent that the programs reduce these interpersonal contacts, not only are prisoners worse off. It can be detrimental to family members themselves, particularly children,” she said.
African Americans comprise about 13 percent of the U.S. population, and they also make up 35 percent of inmates. According to a U.S. Department of Justice report, approximately 37 percent of the 2.2 million male inmates are Black.
“The astronomical fees are predatory and perpetuated by the phone companies and prisons, creating a mini-monopoly,” D.C. Democratic Delegate Eleanor Holmes-Norton said. She said that the profits from the calls are sometimes shared with sheriff’s offices, who say they use the money for security needs.
A strong social support network is an essential tool in reducing re-offending, mainly for drug-related crimes, said Matt C. Pinsker, a former prosecutor, and magistrate who’s an adjunct professor of criminal justice at Virginia Commonwealth University.
“I find the high cost of phone calls concerning. Anything that limits one’s opportunity to be better connected with family is cause for concern,” Pinsker said. “I have had numerous cases where clients, especially indigent ones, were unable to talk to loved ones because they had no money on their accounts,” he said.
Former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn challenged the high rates, calling them a civil rights issue that prevents inmates from connecting with the nearly 3 million children in America with at least one parent in prison. It’s the greatest form of regulatory injustice I have seen in my 18 years as a regulator in the communications space,” Clyburn said.
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
It’s possible that after the bitter campaign for House Speaker ended on January 7th, Americans – especially Black Americans – felt a strong sense of déjà vu. New York Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries provided a masterclass on leadership and served up a clear reminder of what an up-and-coming senator from Illinois named Barack Obama once did during a divided America. “Progress asserted itself tonight, manifested in [Hakeem] Jeffries, even amidst a hostile takeover of the House by neo–fascists,” Jason Randolph of Vote.org commented. Randolph said Jeffries delivered “what’s likely the best political speech not given by Obama in generations.” On July 27, 2004, during the Democratic National Convention in Boston, a 42-year-old Barack Obama, who a few months earlier won a Senate primary in Illinois, spoke eloquently and inspiringly about the divide facing America. “Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters, the negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of ‘anything goes,’” Obama asserted. “Well, I say to them tonight, there is not a liberal America and a conservative America; there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America.” Nineteen years later, in 2023 where many say politics are as divisive and dangerous as ever, Jeffries, 52, channeled Obama by providing a masterclass on leadership. He called for “maturity over Mar-a-Lago,” a direct shot at new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s praise of Trump. Throughout Jeffries’ speech, Trump supporting Republicans jeered while Democrats rose to applaud the Brooklyn born congressman. Jeffries smoothly went through the alphabet to capture all the ails America, and what’s needed to repair the divided nation. “House Democrats will always put American values over autocracy, benevolence over bigotry, the Constitution over the cult, democracy over demagogues,” Jeffries asserted. “Freedom over fascism, governing over gaslighting, hopefulness over hatred quality of life issues over Q’Anon, reason over racism, substance over slander, triumph over tyranny, understanding over ugliness, and voting rights over voter suppression.” Earlier, the Republican Party did, in fact, select a speaker, albeit grudgingly; however, given the 15 rounds it took for McCarthy to secure the necessary votes, it’s possible that his tenure as speaker won’t last. Whether or not McCarthy remains speaker, his ascension to the top post in the chamber is unlikely to be remembered as the 118th Congress’ defining moment. McCarthy, despite multiple defeats before winning the speakership race and his previous condemnation of former President Trump’s role in the 2021 insurrection, still praised Trump. The person elected to lead Congress and look out for America’s best interests praised an alleged would-be over thrower of the U.S. government just two years and one day after the Trump-inspired insurrection in which several lives were lost. Although a congressional committee recommended criminal charges and numerous members of Trump’s inner circle testified to the committee about the former president’s guilt. McCarthy, upon being presented with the speaker’s gavel, remarked, “I do want to especially thank President Trump.” “Do not doubt, in my opinion; in fact, no one should doubt his influence. He was with me from the beginning. So, thank you, President Trump. However, two years earlier, McCarthy held that “the President bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding.” McCarthy’s moments aside, many people who watched the inauguration of the 118th Congress said that Jeffries, the first African American to lead a major political party in Congress, demonstrated true leadership. “Rep. Hakeem Jeffries speaks truth to power,” declared attorney Ben Crump. “Politicians must remember that they represent U.S. All of us. Let’s encourage our lawmakers to work together and pass policy that helps all American people and that preserves our democratic form of government,” Crump said. “This is what leadership looks like, sounds like and does,” podcaster Chris Hahn tweeted. Strategist Steve Schmidt added, “The early morning hours of January 7 marked the rise of a new American leader: Hakeem Jeffries. The thunderclap was the magnificence of his voice rising in defense of the American creed and his taking his place in a long line of liberty’s defenders.” Actor Rob Reiner simplified the outpouring of accolades resulting from Jeffries’ speech. “A star is born,” Reiner
