The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has opened an office in the Robert H. Young Community Center (formerly Carver School, at 720 Greensboro Avenue, Eutaw, AL 35462) to serve residents of Greene County affected by the January 12th storms, tornado and straight-line winds,
The office in classrooms to the right of the main entrance to the Community Center, will be open from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM from Monday to Saturday. At the time this reporter visited on Wednesday, February 8, 2023, there were eight FEMA staff people- in the office taking applications. There is also a separate office with staff from SBA to assist with loan applications.
A FEMA spokesperson said, “We do not know how long we will be able to be here at this location, but we urge Greene County residents who had damage to their homes or businesses to come and see us as soon as possible.” He said 30 to35 people had visited since the office opened on Tuesday morning.
If you cannot get to the Community Center location, you can register for assistance by calling: 1-800-621-3362; or by going on-line to disasterassistance.gov.
FEMA is aiding homeowners and renters who suffered damages from the storm. The assistance varies with the severity of damage to your home, whether you had insurance and the length of time you may be displaced from your home.
FEMA also refers homeowners, renters and businesses affected by the storm to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for low interest loans for home repairs, business repairs and business losses due to the storms.
In a press release, Darrell Habisch, Public Affairs officer for FEMA says in relation to the January 12 storms, that FEMA has done the following in the three-state impact area of the storms:
• To date FEMA has approved more than $4.2 million in grants to homeowners and renters o More than $3.3 million in Housing Assistance o More than $860,000 in Other Needs Assistance As of close of business on Feb. 5, the U.S. Small Business Administration has approved more than $2.1 million in low-interest disaster loans to homeowners and renters. Eight Disaster Survivor Assistance teams are working across the designated counties The deadline to submit applications for FEMA and SBA assistance is March 15, 2023.
Feb. 6, 2023 (GIN) – Some might call it a vision of hell. To others, the cobalt mines, where thousands of miners toil in vast open pits, are “a hellscape of craters and tunnels, patrolled by maniacs with guns.” “It was a “lunar wasteland,” a “devastated landscape” that “resembled a battlefield after an aerial bombardment.” Now, after of a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Siddharth Kara, a researcher of human trafficking and modern slavery, has produced a book – “Cobalt Red” – that is by turns, chilling and shocking. His journeys through the Congo’s jungles and mines are reminiscent of the country’s 19th-century explorers as he treks where few have dared – all to witness the shocking labor and environmental practices accompanied by “vacant statements on zero-tolerance policies and other hollow PR” in pursuit of cobalt. Kara, with the Carr Center for Human Rights at Harvard, has been investigating modern-day slavery, human trafficking and child labor for two decades. He says that although the DRC has more cobalt reserves than the rest of the planet combined, there’s no such thing as a “clean” supply chain of cobalt from the country.
In “Cobalt Red,” Kara writes that much of the DRC’s cobalt is extracted by “artisanal” miners — freelance workers who do extremely dangerous labor for the equivalent of a few dollars a day.
“People are working in subhuman, grinding, degrading conditions,” he says. “They use pickaxes, shovels, stretches of rebar to hack and scrounge at the earth in trenches and pits and tunnels to gather cobalt and feed it up the formal supply chain.”
The mining industry has ravaged the landscape of the DRC, he adds. Millions of trees have been cut down, the air around mines is hazy with dust and grit, and the water has been contaminated with toxic effluents from the mining processing.
“Cobalt is toxic to touch and breathe,” he says, “and there are hundreds of thousands of poor Congolese people touching and breathing it day in and day out. Young mothers with babies strapped to their backs, all breathing in this toxic cobalt dust.”
“The reader senses that the author has been left shell-shocked, not from the carnage but from seeing thousands of people mining by hand, hammer and shovel in vast open pits hundreds of feet deep, most of the pits arrayed with hand-dug tunnels,” the WSJ observes.
Kara reports visiting a typical mine where more than three thousand women, children and men shoveled, scraped, and scrounged . . . under a ferocious sun and a haze of dust.”
Why cobalt? asks a reviewer from a local paper. “Because today’s smartphones, laptops, leaf blowers, toys and so much more owe their revolutionary portability to the advent of cobalt-infused lithium batteries.”
Meanwhile, artisanal miners are regularly mistreated, says Papy Nsenga, president of a union of miners in Kolwezi, in an interview with FRANCE 24. “What happened here is unfortunately a tragedy that we see every day. The artisanal miners are regularly mistreated by the management of the mining companies. They are beaten savagely by the mine’s security agents.
“ We don’t have the right to mine in the mining projects that are authorized to other companies, but we don’t have our own sites. For a long time, we’ve asked for artisanal mining zones, but neither the Congolese state nor the province has granted us a space.
“All the mining sites have been leased to foreign mining companies. We have no choice but to invade these mining areas to make a living and feed our families.”
And as the demand for rechargeable batteries grows, especially in the green technology sector (electric cars and wind and solar storage sites) so does the danger for Congolese children. The “clean energy revolution” risks having as deleterious impact on Congolese children as the technology revolution of the late 1990s had in the scramble for coltan.”
Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles and Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs will play in the first Super Bowl with both teams starting a Black quarterback.
By: Becky Sullivan, NPR Morning Edition
A couple Sundays ago, Doug Williams was watching football. He wasn’t rooting for any of the teams, exactly, in the NFL’s two conference championship games, the winners of which would advance to the Super Bowl. Instead, he said, he was rooting for two players: Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes, the starting quarterbacks of the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, respectively — both of whom, like Williams, are Black. First came Philadelphia, which cruised to victory over the San Francisco 49ers. “I sat there patiently after Jalen and the Eagles had won that game,” Williams said. Then came the Chiefs game — a tense back-and-forth against the Cincinnati Bengals that came down to a Kansas City field goal in the final seconds to win 23-20. “When that ball went through the uprights, I can tell you this — cold chills went through my body, and I got a little emotion,” Williams said in an interview with NPR’s All Things Considered. “There wasn’t no tears running, but I had eyes full of water.” The emotion he felt was decades in the making — 35 long years since Williams became the first Black quarterback to start in, and win, a Super Bowl when he was under center for the Washington football team in their 1988 championship run. In the decades since then, Black quarterbacks have come to be a common sight in NFL games, thriving in a position once reserved exclusively for white men. Yet the sport’s biggest stage had never featured two — until now. On Sunday, for the first time in 57 Super Bowls, both teams will start a Black quarterback. The two players, Mahomes and Hurts, have had superlative seasons. Both are finalists for the Associated Press Most Valuable Player award, and Mahomes is expected to win. And speaking to media this week, both acknowledged the long history of Black quarterbacks who fought to pave the way for their opportunity this weekend. “I think about all the rich history in this game, and to be part of such an historic event, historic moment, it’s special,” said Hurts on Monday. “It’s historic,” said Mahomes. “So many people laid the foundation before us, and to be playing with a guy like Jalen, who I know is doing it the right way, it’s going to be a special moment that I hope lives on forever.” A long history of discrimination The NFL, once entirely off-limits to Black players, began to integrate in earnest throughout the 1950s. Washington, the last team to desegregate, finally drafted its first Black player in 1962. Yet even as Black players joined teams in growing numbers, team owners and managers continued to discriminate against them — especially in so-called “thinking positions” like center, middle linebacker and quarterback. “They felt Black men were inherently inferior, that Black quarterbacks — in their minds — could not lead white players in the NFL, and they just weren’t smart enough,” said Jason Reid, a sportswriter for ESPN and author of the book Rise of the Black Quarterback: What It Means for America. White players dominated those leadership positions, he said, while Black players were relegated to positions that were thought to be more physical than intellectual, like running back, cornerback and wide receiver. “It was just understood that if you were a Black quarterback in college, you were moving to another position [in the NFL]. And it really just came down to systemic racism,” Reid told NPR’s Morning Edition. For every “first Black quarterback to ____” milestone, there’s a story about how a Black man’s abilities were underestimated by white coaches and owners. There’s Marlin Briscoe, the first Black player in the Super Bowl era to start a game at quarterback. The Denver Broncos wanted to convert him to cornerback, but soon the team’s white quarterback was injured and the white backup played poorly, forcing the Broncos to give Briscoe a chance. Then there’s Warren Moon, the first Black quarterback to enter the NFL Hall of Fame. Despite leading the University of Washington to a Rose Bowl victory in 1978, no NFL team showed an interest in him. Instead, Moon spent six years in the Canadian Football League, where he won five straight championships. After making the switch to the NFL, Moon was named to the Pro Bowl nine times. “I’m so proud to see Jalen and Patrick as the first 2 African American QBs to face each other in the Super Bowl,” Moon wrote last week when the Eagles and Chiefs advanced to the Super Bowl. “We have come a long way.” And of course, there’s Doug Williams, the first Black quarterback taken in the first round of the draft, the first Black quarterback to start and win a Super Bowl, and the first Black quarterback to be named Super Bowl MVP. Williams was only scouted by one NFL coach before he graduated from college. He was for a time the lowest-paid starting quarterback in the league. Despite his Super Bowl heroics, his career ended soon after. “At least I was given the opportunity and was able to do something with it,” said Williams, who is now a senior adviser to the president of the Washington Commanders. “It’s a bittersweet situation. But we take the sweet at this particular time.”
(TriceEdneyWire.com) – The brutal beating and resulting death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of five Black cops in Memphis, Tenn., has roiled African-Americans and other people nationwide who are again trying to wrap their heads around the senseless death of another Black man and the fact that his killers are also Black.
Law enforcement officials investigating the brutal January 7th beating released a harrowing hour-long video of the barbaric treatment of Nichols, a 29-year-old father of a 4-year-old, and a treasured son and friend. The five cops who appeared to be most involved – were fired by Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis, after she reviewed the video tape recordings. They disregarded Nichols’ considerable injuries from their fists, pepper spray and a baton and first responders milled about, appearing to be in no hurry to rush him to the hospital.
Three emergency medical technicians, members of the Memphis Fire Department, have been fired in the incident and two additional police officers have since been relieved of their duties. The California transplant, who loved skateboarding, photography, sunsets, his son and his mother, died in a hospital three days after the beating.
“You know, it’s more of the same,” sighed Zakiya Sankara-Jabar, a veteran social justice activist, wife and mother, of this latest highly publicized police-involved killing. Like emotions expressed by others, it has left her disgusted and angry. “I’m frustrated. It was unnecessary. One of the main things is that in conversation, people always talk about diversifying the police force. But hiring more Black faces in a White supremacist institution is not the answer.”
Sankara-Jabar, co-founder and co-director of Racial Justice NOW, said advocates, activists and organizations with suggested solutions have been ignored.
“They need to listen to people who want to disinvest in police departments and invest in jobs and people, especially those excited about entrepreneurship. There are so many things this country won’t do. We need people with the political will.”
Recently, President Joe Biden at the American Conference of Mayors, declared that he’s not defunding the police. “And the mayors – many of them Black – applauded him,” said Sankara-Jabar, also director of educational policy with the Wayfinder Foundation. “We don’t have elected officials who are willing to be bold. And until we break down the power of police unions, nothing will change.”
The Memphis chief of police fired the five officers who beat Nichols. They were investigated and arrested shortly afterward and charged with seven crimes including second-degree murder. Nichols’ death sparked protests in cities around the country. His family lawyer, Antonio Romanucci, said he sustained “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating.” Activist lawyer Benjamin Crump, co-counsel to Romanucci, said the officers used Nichols as “a human pinata.”
Ron Hampton, a police officer with Washington, DC’s Metropolitan Police Department for 23 years, agreed saying he’s been “at it” for years working from the inside to effect change in police departments. Serving on committees, taskforces and organizations working to push against the structural racism, Hampton said the baked in bias and discrimination and the influential people in place to uphold the status quo have proven to be formidable barriers to meaningful change.
“I’m tired and frustrated,” Hampton said. “I’ve been doing this for a longtime. But (people) are hardheaded…We don’t listen. I was actually there, been working on this sh*t. When I was there, I saw so much.”
What he saw included beatings and brutality of both innocent and guilty victims and a special unit called the “jump out” boys who profiled and rousted residents.
Hampton, who retired from the police department in 1994, is a member of the DC Police Reform Commission and teaches criminal justice at the University of the District of Columbia, says 85 percent of what police do has nothing to do with public safety. He said Americans need to have difficult conversations about policing and exert the will to make the necessary changes. On a personal level, he said, he worries all the time when his daughters and wife go out because he fears that they may encounter an officer who may hurt or kill them.
“Right now, we should be looking at how do we reduce the footprint of these people in society,” Hampton said of bad law enforcement. “Are there things we can hand off? Because this is not working. But the politicians can’t say no to the police. And fearmongering by cops is used to bring the public on board. Black folks know that more money and more police will not make Black people safer, will not make that relationship better.”
Dr. Rayshawn Ray, a Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution, is one of many who likens American law enforcement to a rotten tree that has produced bad apples.
“In policing, people always talk about ‘bad apples.’ Well, bad apples come from rotten trees – law enforcement agencies imbued with structural racism,” said Ray in a Brookings article titled, ‘Bad Apples Come from Rotten Trees in Policing.”
Ray said that for the past decade, he has worked with dozens of police departments, the Department of Homeland Security, and the US military.
“I have researched body-worn camera programs and conducted countless implicit bias courses. While these solutions to police brutality matter, they fall short of dealing with the rotten trees because they focus on the bad apples,” writes Ray, a professor of Sociology and executive director of the Lab for Applied Social Science Research at the University of Maryland, College Park in the article. “In order to fundamentally solve police brutality, we have to replant the roots of rotten trees within law enforcement. To deal with rotten roots, America needs to be honest that law enforcement originated from slave patrols meant to capture my ancestors who aimed to flee from enslavement. America has not fully dealt with this.”
Dr. Melina Abdullah – a professor and former chair of Pan-African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles and a co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter of Black Lives Matter – said police departments and law enforcement cannot be reformed.
“I’m an abolitionist who believes that policing is irredeemable. There’s nothing that will make it work. We need to implement crisis measures including removing police from mental health calls and traffic stops. Why did the police need to respond? We have to remove police from where they obviously don’t belong.”
In the first weeks of January, the Los Angeles Police Department killed three men by shooting and/or tasing them. In at least two cases, the men were experiencing mental health crises. Abdullah and BLM-LA have been pressuring elected officials and the police chief to be more transparent in these and other cases where members of the city’s Black and brown residents encounter police or are killed or hurt by police officers. At the same time LAPD officials are asking for a larger budget.
In the article by Rayshawn Ray, he argues that there needs to be a restructuring of civilian payouts for police misconduct because police officers are typically shielded from the financial impact of payouts. Instead, taxpayers have footed the bill for misconduct to the tune of $33 million in St. Louis, $50 million in Baltimore and more than $650 million over the past 20 years in Chicago.
“I think it’s maintaining the status quo but beyond – police are advocating for an expansionist view,” said Abdullah. “They’re really trying to gobble up more and more of resources. They’re moving toward a police state.”
Three Florida high school students are threatening to file a lawsuit against the Sunshine State and its (alleged) white nationalist overlord, Gov. Ron DeSantis, over the state’s rejection of an Advanced Placement course on African American history—which, in this writer’s not-so-humble opinion, was rejected because DeSantis and his cohorts identify with the white, conservative and fragile, and that’s all that really matters.
“Certainly there are other advanced placement histories, such as AP European History, AP U.S. History and AP World History, all predominantly generated towards white people,” high school junior Victoria McQueen, one of the three students, said during a press conference, according to HuffPost.
And that’s exactly the truth. There’s nothing inherent about white-centered history that undermines American jingoism or the idea of American exceptionalism, so there’s never any real controversy there. (Unless you ask Black people who object to the romanticized way in which European history and American history tend to be presented at the expense of those who were historically oppressed during that history. But that doesn’t matter because we don’t matter. Our discomfort with white-centered curricula doesn’t matter. Our desire to see non-whitewashed history taught in schools doesn’t matter.)
Florida officials claim they’re only rejecting fringe ideology and indoctrination, as opposed to African American history, but when they’re advocating for unbridled patriotism and fighting anything that stands in the way of that, it’s clear that ideological indoctrination is just fine with them as long as it’s the right (pun absolutely intended) kind of ideological indoctrination
Anyway, the trio of students is being represented by none other than civil attorney Ben Crump.
“If (DeSantis) does not negotiate with the College Board to allow African American studies to be taught in classrooms in the state of Florida, these three young people will be the lead plaintiffs in a historic lawsuit,” Crump said.
Personally, I hope the lawsuit is filed and widely covered in the media. Even if the would-be plaintiffs lose the case, it will highlight the fact that neither DeSantis nor other Florida officials are waging their war against what they define as “wokeness” on behalf of the people—only their people.
Project Engineer Angela Henline addressing Eutaw City Council
At a special meeting on January 17, 2023, the Eutaw City Council formally approved a request to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) for the initial installments of $2.6 million grant for water and $3 million for sewer improvements, for the unified Eutaw-Boligee water and sewer system.
Project Engineer Angela Henline from the Cassady Company in Northport presented a detailed report on the City of Eutaw, Water System Restoration and Resiliency Project, to the council.
The City of Eutaw has submitted a grant preapplication to ADEM for the water system, that includes the Town of Boligee, for $16,464,059 over a five-year period, ending in 2026. The initial $2.6 million will be used for: a. Backflow prevention, monitoring and flushing improvements to the water system, including the detection of leaks, to project future improvements; and b. Replacement or rehabilitation of the existing Boligee water tank and disconnection of out of service industrial tank at Boligee.
The Project Engineer has also submitted a $14,002,759 grant preapplication to ADEM for the wastewater (sewer) system improvements over the next five years, until the end of 2026. The initial $3 million, requested for 2023, will be used for: a. Standby emergency sewer pump, which will be trailer mounted and used when pumping stations breakdown, b. Critical pump station improvements and monitoring systems, for BP station in Boligee, Boligee Pump Station No. 1, Lower Gainesville Road, Rest Stop, Branch Heights, and Annie Thomas Circle; c. Upgrade Lower Road force main; and d. Lagoon improvements (design only).
Henline said that a public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, February 7, 2023, at 5:00 PM, at City Hall for questions and comments from the public on the water and sewer projects. “This is the opportunity for residents of the area to come and learn about these projects and ask any questions they may have,” said Mayor Latasha Johnson.
After the public hearing, Henline said she would complete the grant agreement documents with ADEM and proceed to put out bids for the initial components of the water and sewer projects. The initial components include monitoring for water losses and pumping station efficiencies which will help to develop the next phase of design and construction for the five-year program.
Mayor Johnson indicated that it had been a long struggle to get to this point, but she was pleased that the project would be 100% grant funded and thanked Congresswoman Sewell and ADEM officials for helping in the process. The availability of Federal funding from the CARES Act, American Rescue Plan, Infrastructure, and Inflation Recovery Act, all contributed to making this multi-year improvement project work for Eutaw and Boligee’s unified water and sewer system.
At the Eutaw City Council regular meeting on January 24, 2023, the council received a detailed report from Ralph Liverman, financial adviser on the first quarter of the fiscal year (October -December 2022) revenues and expenditures. Revenues from sales tax, fuel taxes and other sources were slightly ahead of projections. Expenses were on target with the budget projections for the quarter.
The Eutaw City Council also approved travel and per diem for several trips for training for Corey Martin, water operator, and other trips for the mayor and financial adviser to represent the city. The council also approved payment of bills and claims, including payrolls.
Mayor Johnson reported that she was working with Congresswoman Terri Sewell and Governor Kay Ivey for Eutaw and Greene County, to be included in the Federal disaster declaration for the tornados on November 29, 2021, and January 12, 2023. If we are included in the declaration, then the city, county and individuals will be able to receive FEMA reimbursement for expenses and losses, due to the storms.
As of January 23, 2023 at 10:00 AM
(According to Alabama Political Reporter)
Alabama had 1,610,535 confirmed cases of coronavirus,
(7,654) more than last report, with 20,870 deaths (24) more
than last report.
Greene County had 2,253 confirmed cases, 13 more cases than last report, with 53 deaths
Sumter Co. had 3,104 cases with 55 deaths
Hale Co. had 5,6131 cases with 110 deaths
Note: Greene County Physicians Clinic has testing and vaccination for COVID-19; including the new bivalent booster for Omicron variants.
Call for appointments at 205/372-3388, Ext. 142;
ages 5 and up.
The Greene County Sheriff Department issued a listing of the bingo distributions for December, totaling $616,999.32 from four licensed bingo gaming facilities. The bingo facilities regularly distributing through the sheriff include Frontier, River’s Edge, Palace and Bama Bingo. The recipients of the December distributions from bingo gaming include Greene County Sheriff’s Department, the cities of Eutaw, Forkland, Union, and Boligee, the Greene County Board of Education and the Greene County Hospital (Health System). Sub charities include Children’s Policy Council, Guadalupan Multicultural Services, Greene County Golf Course, Housing Authority of Greene County (Branch Heights), Department of Human Resources, the Greene County Library, Eutaw Housing Authority, Historical Society, REACH, Inc., Headstart Community Service and This Belong To US. Bama Bingo gave a total of $117,157.87 to the following: Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $48,070; City of Eutaw, $9,250; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $3,875; Greene County Board of Education, $10,500, and the Greene County Health System, $12,500. Sub Charities, each received $1,034.22 including REACH, Inc. Community Service received $470.10 and This Belong to Us received $94.02. Frontier (Dream, Inc.) gave a total of $114,995.01 to the following: Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $48,070; City of Eutaw, $9,250; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $3,875; Greene County Board of Education, $10,500; Greene County Health System, $12,500. Sub Charities each received $870.53, including the Historical Society and REACH, Inc. Community Service received $470.10 and This Belong to Us received $94.02. River’s Edge (Next Level Leaders and Tishabee Community Center Tutorial Program) gave a total of $118,288 to the following: Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $48,070; City of Eutaw, $12,543; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $3,875; Greene County Board of Education, $10,500; Greene County Health System, $12,500. Sub Charities each, $1,027,, including the Historical Society and REACH, Inc. Community Service received $467 and This Belong to Us received $92. Palace (TS Police Support League) gave a total of $266,558.44 to the following: Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $111,426.26; City of Eutaw, $21,441.50; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $8,982.25; Greene County Board of Education, $24,339, and the Greene County Health System, $28,975. Sub Charities received $2,397.33, including the Historical Society and REACH, Inc. Community Service received $1,089.70 and This Belong to Us received $217.94. The sheriff’s supplement for November from four bingo facilities totaled $79,204.58
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
Two proposals aimed at curbing the spread of assault rifles were submitted today by Democratic senators Dianne Feinstein of California, and Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy of Connecticut. The Assault Weapons Ban seeks to prohibit the commercialization, distribution, production, and importation of assault rifles and other firearms designed for use in military operations, as well as high-capacity magazines and similar devices. On January 22, a gunman opened fire on a crowd celebrating the Lunar New Year in Monterey Park, California, killing 11 and wounding 9. There was also a shooting of 7 farm workers in Half Moon Bay, California, near San Francisco. The Democrats’ proposed Age 21 Act would make it illegal to sell or buy an assault weapon to anybody under 21, bringing it in line with the legal age for purchasing handguns.
Some Congress members, including Judy Chu, who represents the California district that includes Monterey Park, have called for universal background checks and closing loophole for gun shows and guns ordered on the Internet. President Joe Biden has publicly stated his support for the legislation. Biden said that the number of mass shootings declined during the decade that the Assault Weapons Ban was in effect. “In the 10 years that the Assault Weapons Ban was on the books, mass shootings went down,” Biden remarked. “After Republicans let the law expire in 2004 and those weapons were allowed to be sold again, mass shootings tripled,” he declared. Both houses of Congress were urged to take quick action by the president. According to Biden, “the majority of American people agree with this rational measure.” “There can be no greater responsibility than to do all we can to ensure the safety of our children, our communities and our nation,” he insisted. In the House of Representatives, Rhode Island Democrat David Cicilline said he plans to introduce a companion bill to the Senate’s Assault Weapons Ban. Feinstein said assault rifles “seem to be the unifying denominator in the seemingly endless number of horrific shootings.” “Because these firearms were created for maximum efficiency in mass murder,” the senator noted. “They have no place in our society or educational institutions. It’s time to take a stand against the gun lobby and do something about getting these lethal weapons off the streets, or at the absolute least, out of the hands of our youth.” Blumenthal added, as the gunman at the Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park demonstrated just days ago, assault weapons are designed for one and one purpose only: to murder or hurt human beings. “These military-style combat weapons – built for the battlefield and designed to maximize death and destruction – have brought bloodshed and carnage to our streets and continue to be the weapon of choice in countless mass shootings,” Blumenthal said. “Guns don’t respect state boundaries, which is why we need a national solution to restricting the ownership and use of assault weapons. Now is the time to honor gun violence victims and survivors with this commonsense action.” Rep. Ciciline argued that it is long past due to reinstate an assault weapon ban and remove these “weapons of war” from civilian areas. The assault weapons prohibition “passed the House last year with bipartisan backing, but was blocked by Senate Republicans,” Ciciline noted. “We need to come together to enact this commonsense, effective, and proven policy to reduce gun violence and save lives. I thank Senator Feinstein for her partnership in this fight and look forward to introducing the House companion bill in the coming weeks.”
Selma, AL – So many people are calling and asking, ‘Will we still have The Bridge Crossing Jubilee in March?’” said Hank Sanders. My response is: “Yes. Now more than ever!”
Faya Rose Toure, Founder and National Coordinator of The Bridge Crossing Jubilee said: “The Bridge Crossing Jubilee is needed every year. But in light of the massive devastation in Selma, it is needed now more than ever. The Bridge Crossing Jubilee 2023 is an opportunity to not just build back Selma but to build the Beloved Community in Selma.”
Sanders said: “Every year tens of thousands of people come from across the country and across the world to participate in the Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee. They come on a spiritual journey. They get revived spiritually. They share with others from across the country and world. But they do not leave anything behind in Selma. This year, we are asking folks to come and be spiritually revived and to share with one another but to continue to do something to help build the Beloved Community in Selma.”
“It is not enough to build Selma back as it was. This is an opportunity to build Selma into the Beloved Community that those Foot Soldiers on the Bridge risked their lives to build,” said Toure. We are asking all organizations in and out of Selma to develop their own initiatives consistent with the Selma of justice, fairness and prosperity. The 2023 Bridge Crossing Jubilee – Now More Than Ever!” said Toure.
Dallas County Probate Judge Jimmy Nunn said: “We need all the help we can get to overcome the devastation wrought by this tornado. We need as many people as possible to come to Selma during The Bridge Cross Jubilee to see the devastation so that they can help.”
Dr James Mitchell, Chairman of the Selma to Montgomery March Commemoration Foundation, said: “Many national leaders and other national personalities have been invited to the 2023 Jubilee, and we expect so many of them to come because they come every year but also because of the devastation in Selma. In fact, we expect more people to come this year than usual, and that has been many tens of thousands each year. Also, the Annual Martin & Coretta King Unity Breakfast will be back in the WCCS gym this year.”
Dr. Margaret Hardy, Jubilee Board Member, said: “I and others are making donations in the name of The Bridge Crossing Jubilee to help those in crisis in Selma as a result of the tornado devastation.” Members of the Selma-to-Montgomery March Foundation and the Bridge Crossing Jubilee and other leaders held a press conference today at 11:00 a.m. on the Selma side of the Foot of the Bridge concerning a very special Bridge Crossing Jubilee in light of the devastating tornado that hit Selma. The new theme in the aftermath of the tornado devastation in Selma is “The Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee 2023 – Now More Than Ever.”
For more information, contact: Hank Sanders (334) 782-1651 and Hank23Sanders@gmail.com
