By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
The Florida Department of Education said the state has rejected more than 50 math textbooks ahead of the 2022-2023 school year. The department cited references to critical race theory among reasons for the rejections. Officials said they would not accept about 41 percent of the books – 54 out of 132 – to Florida’s adopted list because the works didn’t adhere to the state’s standards. “Today, Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran approved Florida’s initial adoption list for mathematics instructional materials properly aligned to Florida’s Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) Standards,” the department wrote in a news release. “The approved list followed a thorough review of submissions at the Department, which found 41 percent of the submitted textbooks were impermissible with either Florida’s new standards or contained prohibited topics – the most in Florida’s history. Despite rejecting such large percentage of the materials submitted, the department claimed that every core mathematics course and grade is covered with at least one textbook. The names of the rejected books were not included in the release. Florida’s new law states that instruction in schools must be factual and objective. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ mandate specifically prohibits “theories that distort historical events” – which includes the teaching of Critical Race Theory. Florida has banned such works as the Pulitzer Prize winning 1619 Project, which tackled the transatlantic slave trade. “They won’t tell us what [the banned books] are or what they say because it’s a lie,” Florida Democratic Rep. Carlos Smith wrote on Twitter. “DeSantis has turned our classrooms into political battlefields, and this is just the beginning.” Added State House Member Anna Eskamani, “I get it. The goal of math is to solve problems which the Republican Party of Florida doesn’t like to do.”
Mrs. Eula Lanier with Congresswoman Terri Sewell on the front of her damaged house.
On Wednesday night, April 13, 2022 between 10:00 and 10:30 PM, an EF0 tornado, with winds of 65 to 85 miles per hour, passed through Eutaw and Greene County, Alabama. It did the greatest damage in the William M. Branch Heights community, which is a part of the city of Eutaw.
“More than 40 homes in Branch Heights were visibly damaged and we are still discovering less obvious damage to bricks and foundations which may have been loosened and shifted,” said Anita Lewis, Greene County Housing Authority Executive Director.
Lewis continued, “We have had more than 100 people displaced, made homeless, by this storm. Some have found shelter with family and friends but we have placed 24 families in a nearby hotel, near Greenetrack, which is 8 miles from their homes. Senator Bobby Singleton and Representative A. J, MacCampbell are seeking state resources to extend hotel stays as needed.”
Branch Heights was built with HUD funds in the 1970’s as a major project of the newly elected African American controlled Greene County Commission. It contains over two hundred single family homes. Most of the homes are still rental units, under the control of the Greene County Housing Authority, but about a third of the homes have been purchased by the homeowners, as part of a special program, where people who had rented for 15 years, were able to purchase their units.
Lewis said that the Greene County Housing Authority’s insurance company was still evaluating the damages but that 12 homes have only roof damage and these will be the first to be repaired, so families can return to their units. She said at least four families that owned their own homes did not have insurance to rebuild.
Congresswoman Terri Sewell who was in Greene County, on Tuesday morning, April 19, 2022 for a town hall meeting in Boligee, said, “My team and I toured the devastating storm damage in Branch Heights which has displaced over 100 residents. It was important to me to see this damage for myself and to join with the local community as they begin to rebuild. While it won’t bring back the homes and belongings that were lost, I was honored to buy lunch for some of my constituents who were affected. We all have a role to play when our community is in need. Now is the time to lend a helping hand.”
Earlier at the Boligee meeting, Sewell in answer to a question from Commission Chair Allen Turner, on the need to secure a FEMA disaster declaration for small areas like Branch Heights, affected by storms, said, “Congress will have to change the FEMA designation but we will work to secure SBA long term low interest loans for rebuilding homes and businesses. We will also work to identify other state, Federal and private resources that can help with rebuilding.”
In an interview on Monday, Lewis said, “The City of Eutaw, their police and street department are involved and helping us; the County, the Sheriff’s Department are also here and working very diligently on getting things put together and assessed and also assisting with our residents. This storm has been a challenge to all of our government and private aid agencies, including the Red Cross.”
“We had to put displaced people in hotels because we have no vacant public housing units in the area. We may have to seek help from adjoining cities like Tuscaloosa, to house our residents. Now we have to arrange food, clothing, transportation, clothes washing and other services for our people,” said Lewis
School Superintendent Dr. Corey Jones announced at recent board meeting that he will re-route school buses to accommodate students who have been placed at local hotels and other locations. Other assistance from the school system may also be available.
Lewis said, “We need all the help we can get for our residents here in Branch Heights, especially the children. We also need volunteer manpower to clear debris and help with rebuilding. We are at the Greene County Housing Authority are willing to accept any assistance and donations. You can call us at: 205-372-3342 or by email at:gchauth@bellsouth.net
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
The Department of Health and Human Services said its increasing outreach to communities of color to encourage enrollment in free and low-cost health care, and the agency will address the maternal mortality crisis that disproportionately impacts Black and Native families, including by working with states to extend postpartum coverage in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security said its working to ensure that underserved communities are treated fairly in airport screenings by improving systems and enhancing training for officers. DHS officials said they’re also engaging with and improving underserved communities’ access to grant programs that help counter domestic violent extremism to better address the terrorism-related threat to the country posed by white supremacists and other domestic terrorists. The U. S. Department of Agriculture says in its statement, “All too often in the past, USDA programs and services were designed to benefit those with land, experience, money, and education while leaving behind those without means, resources or privilege of one kind or another. Over the course of decades, congressional reports, internal data, civil rights investigations, court actions, and stakeholder testimony have documented this long history of inequity and discrimination.”
The USDA Equity Action Plan highlights a set of actions USDA will take to advance equity; these particular actions are highlighted in the plan because of their potential high impact for underserved farmers and ranchers, families and children, and rural communities. Below is a summary:
Partner with trusted technical assistance providers Reduce barriers to USDA programs and improve support to underserved farmers, ranchers, landowners, and farmworkers Expand equitable access to USDA nutrition assistance programs Increase USDA infrastructure investments that benefit underserved communities Advance equity in federal procurement Uphold Federal trust and treaty Responsibilities to Indian Tribes Institutionalize an unwavering commitment to and actions towards ensuring civil rights
On Thursday, April 14, each government agency also released plans that mesh with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ strategies and commitments in an overall Equity Action Plan. The plan results from an executive order that Biden almost immediately after taking office. The president said he’d set his sight on advancing racial equity and supporting underserved communities throughout the federal government. The White House said the order marked a first for a U.S. president. “We set the mission and the mandate for every agency, the entire federal government, to center equity in all that we do,” stated Chiraag Bains, deputy assistant to the president for racial justice and equity. Following an extensive review, each federal agency released separate – but similar – action plans. Biden outlined the plan in January 2021 when he revealed over 300 strategies and commitments aimed at making federal policy fair for everyone, particularly poorer communities and neighborhoods of color. The president also detailed his desire to provide equal opportunity to individuals with disabilities and women and girls. “Advancing equity is not a one-year project – it is a generational commitment,” the White House said in a fact sheet. “These plans are an important step forward, reflecting the Biden-Harris Administration’s work to make the promise of America real for every American, including by implementing the first-ever national strategy on gender equity and equality; working to ensure the federal government is a model for diversity equity, inclusion, and accessibility; working to deliver environmental justice through the Justice40 Initiative; and working to prevent and combat discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.” To ensure the broadest cross-section informs the government policies of Americans, the White House said agencies are engaging trusted intermediaries and tailoring outreach to make meaningful and authentic participation possible for a broader range of Americans. Also, as the largest buyer globally, the federal government will address racial and gender wealth gaps by leveraging the power of federal procurement to drive more significant investment in minority-owned and women-owned small businesses, officials stated. The White House has also pledged to deliver equity through grantmaking opportunities. The administration noted that persistent barriers make it difficult for under-resourced and underserved communities to be aware of, compete for, and effectively deploy federal grants for everything from infrastructure to medical research. “Agencies are addressing these barriers by helping underserved communities learn about and navigate federal funding opportunities, expanding capacity-building federal grants,” administration officials said. The implementation of the president’s American Rescue Plan and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law also will help advance equity, the White House said. “The President has made equity a priority in the implementation of two of the most ambitious legislative packages in generations, with the goal of ensuring an inclusive response and recovery from the pandemic and in rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure,” the officials concluded.
The Greene County Executive Committee held a political forum on Thursday, April 7, 2022 in the gymnasium of the Robert H. Young Community Center (old Carver School). The forum was open to all candidates in the Democratic primary election on May 24, 2022 for local offices in Greene County. The candidates were given three minutes to introduce themselves and an additional ten minutes for questions.
Lorenzo French, Chair of the Greene County Democratic Executive Committee explained the purpose of the forum was to allow candidates to explain their platforms and reasons for running, as well as to answer questions from voters. French asked the audience to take note of those candidates who did not appear and ask them to be more accountable to the voters of Greene County.
The hotly contested race for Sheriff of Greene County drew the most attention. Three of the four candidates were present, only the incumbent sheriff, Jonathan “Joe” Benison, was not present and did not speak to his accomplishments in office or answer voter’s questions.
Jimmie Benison, candidate for sheriff explained his long career in law enforcement, including military service, previously working as a Greene County deputy sheriff and currently working for a Mental Health Law Enforcement program in Tuscaloosa.
Jimmie Benison said, “I will be a fulltime sheriff dedicated to law enforcement and safety. I will stand for transparency, accountability, dependability and honesty in my role as sheriff. I will appoint a panel, similar to the “racing commission” that we had to operate, regulate and monitor greyhound dog racing, to operate electronic bingo in the county.”
In answering questions, Benison said, “I am unfamiliar with the current rules that are being used by the sheriff to operate bingo but I feel that the panel I create will develop rules to make more funds available to Greene County government and agencies.”
In answer to a question about reducing crime, he said, “I am in favor of more after school programs and activities for youth; I plan to revitalize the junior deputies program we had in the past, which will help to bridge the gap between the community and the police.”
Hank McWhorter, another candidate for sheriff, said that he had 35 years of law enforcement experience, including ten years of service with the Greene County Sheriff’s Department.
“Based on the funds coming through Greene County’s electronic bingo establishments, we should have the best roads, best services, best hospital, best ambulance service, best education, a high school football stadium, and best recreational services of any county in Alabama. The money is there but it is not staying in the county to help people here. I will work to fix this.”
McWhorter suggested that Greene County residents get the public documents from IRS on the bingo charities, their 990 disclosure forms and others, to see what they are doing and how much they are paying their staff and what they are giving to Greene County. He also said there are bingo controlled “political action committees” (PAC’s), like Citizens for Lawful Government, which are trying to buy the election for the incumbent sheriff.
In a separate interview with this reporter, McWhorter said he feared for his life and that of his family because he was revealing the truth about the corruption of bingo in Greene County.
Beverly “Bev” Spencer, the third candidate for sheriff, challenging the incumbent said, “I was born in Greene County, lived here all of my life and plan to die here. I have no law enforcement experience but I have common sense and I know what the sheriff is supposed to do.”
“Greene County is not getting its fair share of bingo funds. I estimate $300 to $400 million dollars annually is flowing through bingo and Greene County gets $6 or $7 million a year out of this. We should be getting at least 10% or $30 million which could be used to help Greene County,” said Spencer.
“I will create an 8-member committee, 3 whites and 5 Blacks, to regulate and supervise bingo in Greene County; I will be the ninth vote to break a tie. This committee will change the rules and see if we can get every single person in Greene County a small check from bingo funds as well as fund the charities, agencies and government services,” said Spencer.
District Attorney Greg Griggers and his challenger Barrown Lankster, who has held the position in the past discussed their different approaches to the position of District Attorney for the 17th Judicial District, which includes Greene, Sumter and Marengo counties. Lankster said he would be more pro-active in working with educational programs for young people to prevent crime. Griggers touted various special courts he had created for mental health and juvenile crimes.
The program lasted for over three hours from 5:00 PM to after 8:30 PM and also heard from candidates for County Commission and School Board. We will cover those races in the six weeks ahead until the May 24th. Primary.
There was also a fiery keynote address by civil rights and voting rights activist Rev. Wendel Paris of Jackson, Mississippi. Paris is a native of Sumter County and played a major role in political activism in the Alabama Black Belt for many years. “All of us must vote in every election. We need to strive for 90% turnout in the Alabama Black Belt and we can win statewide elections. You must go out and vote because your vote can make a difference in your daily life, and if you don’t vote, please do not complain about the results,” said Paris.
Rev. James Carter, a former Greene County Commissioner District 4 passed away on Sunday, April 10, 2022, after a long illness.
Carter was honored earlier that same day with a benefit program to raise funds to help his family with expenses. Members of the Eta Mu Sigma Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Paramount Class of 1979, members of churches he pastored and others supported the program.
Funeral services will be held Saturday at 1:00 PM at Carver School gymnasium.
The Greene County Commission held a special meeting on March 31 and its regular monthly meeting on April 11, 2022 to mostly deal with and approve financial matters.
The special meeting was called to approve a refunding of the county’s bond issue for construction of the William McKinley Branch Courthouse and the Jail. There are 15 years left on the 2007 warrants, with a balance of $3,855,000 remaining, with an interest rate of 4.61%, after the February 2022 annual payment.
The bonds were refinanced by PiperSandler Investment Corporation, at 2.99% for remaining 14 years of the warrants from February 2023 to February 2037. The county will realize a net savings of $339,263 on the transaction (around $25,000 per year), which includes payment of issuance and placement fees and restoration of the bond warrants fund. Walter Lewis, a former University of Alabama quarterback, represented the company and secured placement of the bonds at a more favorable interest rate.
At the April 11 regular meeting, CFO Mac Underwood reported that the bond refinancing had been completed as of April 5, 2022, at the rates promised.
At the start of the April 11 meeting, the Commission observed a moment of silence to honor the late Rev. James Carter, who had served as a commissioner for District 4 in the past.
CFO Mac Underwood provided a financial report as of March 22, 2022, which showed $6,627,903 in various accounts in Citizens Trust Bank, $4,981,946 in Merchants and Farmers Bank and several certificates in Robertson Bank for a total of $11,971,738, plus an additional amount for the county’s bond fund in the Bank of New York. He also presented a report showing $640,650 in claims and payroll for March and $138,000 in electronic payments for taxes and retirement funds.
All agencies including the General Fund and Sheriff’s Department are in line with the budget and have spent around half of their budget funds by this mid-point in the fiscal year which began October 1st. Underwood recommend an increase of $14,500 in the Coroner’s budget due to high cost for transportation for people who died from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commission approved the financial reports, payment of claims and the budget amendment.
The Commission heard a report from County Engineer, Willie Branch, and approved his recommendations, including:
• Awarding a bid of $197,715 to ST Bunn Construction for Project No. RA-GCP 01-02-2022 for spot leveling and patch county roads.
• Awarding a bid of $549,735 to ST Bunn Construction for Project No. RA-GCP – 01 -01-2022 for patching multiple sections of CR 117,120 and 154. • Approving a Memorandum of Agreement with ALDOT regarding federal exchange funds.
• Approving a proposal from JM Wood Auction for sale of equipment at the June action and declaring that equipment as surplus.
The Commission also acted on a request from Phillis Belcher, Executive Director of the Greene County Industrial Development Authority (GCIDA), agreeing to serve as a co-applicant for EDA, Infrastructure Appropriations and Broadband grants for 2022-2023, including a proposal to repair transportation network roads in the Crossroads of America Industrial Park and Port.
The Commission tabled a request from the GCIDA for improvements to its office building on the Courthouse Square, across from Eutaw City Hall. The GCIDA and the Eutaw Chamber of Commerce jointly lease this building, for a nominal amount, from the County Commission. Commission Chair Turner requested a meeting with the GCIDA and Chamber of Commerce to consider sharing the cost of these expenses for the building.
At the Special Meeting on March 31, 2022, the Commission adopted a resolution to ask its attorney Mike Parnell to request an opinion from the State Attorney General on the use of county facilities, like the Courthouse and Eutaw Activity Center for “political meetings”. In the public comments section of the meeting, John Zippert, Democrat Co-Publisher, asked why an AG’s opinion was needed for a practice of using public buildings for political meetings, that Greene County had been implementing for fifty years.
Attorney Parnell said that he wanted to be sure it was legal to use county-owner facilities for political meetings. Zippert asked if the decision would be available before the May 24th Primary Election. Parnell said he hoped to have the decision before the November general election.
All Commissioners were present either in person or on the phone for both meetings, except that Commissioner Corey Cockrell was absent for both meetings.
By vote of 53 to 47, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday as the first Black women on the court, but only Republican Sen. Mitt Romney (R., Utah) joined Democrats celebrating her high honor as other Republic Senators fled the senate floor.
Judge Jackson, 51, will replace Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, 83, who is retiring either in late June or early July.
Judge Jackson went over the top when Sen. Mitt Romney (R., Utah) and Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska), announced they would vote to confirm her. Susan Collins (R., Maine) had said earlier she would vote for Judge Jackson. Sen. Tim Scott, (R., N. Carolina) a Black senator, also voted with the other Republican Senators against Brown Jackson.
Vice-President Kamala Harris presided over the U. S. Senate for the vote to confirm Judge Jackson, in case her vote was needed to break a tie and to help make history.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send Brown Jackson to floor of the Senate an 11 -11 vote. There have been 144 associate justices in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Judge Jackson currently sits on the District of Columbia Circuit Court, which is widely considered the second most powerful court in the land.
Apr. 11, 2022 (GIN) – Speaking by video on the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the world community to choose humanity over hatred; compassion over cruelty; courage over complacency and reconciliation over rage.
If anyone missed the underlying message, the U.N. chief had quietly linked the horror of the genocide of one million Rwandans to the “sickening violence” now taking place in the Ukraine. While we honor the memory of those who died, he said poignantly, “we must reflect on our failures as an international community.”
As the Secretary-General spoke, Rwandan President Paul Kagame on April 7 laid a wreath at a memorial site in the capital, Kigali, where more than 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu were killed. The ceremony marked the beginning of a week of somber events.
“Imagine people being hunted down day and night for who they are,” the President said. “Also imagine if those of us who were carrying arms, if we had allowed ourselves to pursue those who were killing our people indiscriminately.”
“First of all, we would be right to do so. But we didn’t. We spared them. Some of them are still living today, in their homes, villages. Others are in government and business.”
The Secretary-General drew attention to the principle of Responsibility to Protect; his Call to Action, which puts human rights at the heart of the organization. “I have placed the agenda of prevention at the center of our work”.
Yet, he added, “much more could have – and should have – been done. A generation after the events, the stain of shame endures.”
“Rwanda today stands as a powerful testament of the human spirit’s ability to heal even the deepest wounds and emerge from the darkest depths to rebuild a stronger society”, he continued. After having suffered “unspeakable gender-based violence”, women in Rwanda now hold 60 percent of parliamentary seats.
And Rwanda is the fourth largest UN peacekeeping contributor, which Mr. Guterres said was helping to spare others, “the pain they themselves have known.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine is in flames; old and new conflicts are festering in the Middle East, Africa and beyond – while the Security Council is agreeing “mostly to disagree”.
While looking back with remorse, the Secretary-General urged everyone to look ahead “with resolve” and commit to “be ever vigilant” and never forget.
“Let us pay meaningful tribute to the Rwandans who perished by building a future of dignity, tolerance, and human rights for all,” he concluded.
“We always have a choice,” he said, “and perpetrators can no longer assume impunity.”
The HBCU Community will come together for the 8th Annual HBCU Climate Change Conference next week. The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice in collaboration will host the event in collaboration with Texas Southern University on April 13 – 16, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The goal of the conference is to unite HBCU faculty, students, researchers, climate professionals and environmental justice, and coastal community residents affected by detrimental weather caused by or related to climate change. The conference will work to help eliminate the gap between theory and the day-to-day realities of climate change. Issues such as climate justice, adaptation, community resilience, global climate problems, and other major climate change topics like transportation, energy sources, carbon emissions, and more will be discussed at the event as well. Also, the conference will work to incorporate local high school students into the activities of the conference. These teenagers who are looking to attend College will have the opportunity to learn more about how climate science is an integral part of their lives. The activities will offer an introductory glimpse into the realities of climate change for these young students through computer-simulated games and other forms of engaging learning tools. The conference was originally postponed until the Spring of 2022 due to the surge in the COVID19 Omicron Variant. But now the HBCU community will have an opportunity to come together to discuss and hopefully find some practical solutions to a very important issue. In May of 2021, Energy Secretary, Jennifer Granholm, spoke to theGrio about the importance of inclusion for HBCUs and becoming actively involved in the discussion on climate change. “My first venture out in this COVID environment was to Howard University … it was to announce a $17 million opportunity at DOE [Department of Energy] offering to support college internships and research projects and opportunities and to bolster investment in underrepresented use in minority-serving institutions,” said Granholm. “If you don’t have diverse researchers at the table, your research product, whatever it is, is going to not be as effective,” Granholm continued. “So, for example, when we have all this face recognition software out there, all this artificial intelligence, well, they’re the way MIS identifies African-American faces, especially in law enforcement. If you have more people of color who are on the teams doing the development of that software and that technology, then you will not have that problem.” The conference will likely continue to serve as a vital step in helping to get more diversity in the conversations around climate change. “We have to have diverse participation in the design of these products and the research of them,” stated Granholm. “And that’s why we need to increase the diversity in our laboratories, but of our stem, our science, technology, engineering, and math workforce.”
Large crowd crosses bridge in Selma at 57th anniversary of ‘Bloody Sunday on March 6, 2022;
A state trooper swings a club at John Lewis, chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, as police break up a voting rights march in Selma, Ala., on March 7, 1965. AP
By Associated Press Alabama lawmakers on Tuesday advanced legislation that would alter the name of Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge to honor those who were beaten on the bridge as they marched for civil rights in 1965. The Alabama Senate voted 23-3 for legislation that would change the official name to the “Edmund W. Pettus-Foot Soldiers Bridge.” However, the lettering on the famous bridge would remain unaltered. The name “Foot Soldiers” would be on a separate sign that would include a silhouette of the marchers. The bill, dubbed the “Healing History Act,” now moves to the Alabama House of Representatives with three meeting days remaining in the legislative session. The bridge in 1940 was named after Pettus, a Confederate general and reputed Ku Klux Klan leader. However, 25 years later it became an enduring symbol of the civil rights movement after marchers were beaten by law enforcement officers on the bridge in 1965. The melee became known as Bloody Sunday and helped lead to passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. “Not a single letter would be touched. It would stay intact in its historical context. And at the same time… honor the history that is there and the history that came out of it,” said state Sen. Malika Sanders-Fortier, a Democrat from Selma. Sanders-Fortier is running to be the Democratic candidate for Governor of Alabama in the May 24 primary. Through the years some have proposed changing the name of the bridge, including a push to name it for the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who grew up in Troy, Alabama. The Georgia congressman was one of the demonstrators beaten on the bridge in 1965. A state trooper swings a club at John Lewis, chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, as police break up a voting rights march in Selma, Ala., on March 7, 1965. AP Sanders-Fortier said many who marched for civil rights in her community do not want the bridge name changed entirely because of what the bridge has come to represent. State Sen. Gerald Allen, the author of a state law forbidding the removal and renaming of longstanding monuments and memorials, voted against the name alteration. The Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, was approved as some cities began taking down Confederate monuments and emblems. Allen said the name of the Edmund Pettus Bridge is famous across the world. “If you add to it, you change it,” Allen said. The bill also would steer funds to provide for the commissioning and protection of new monuments and the preservation of sites that have significance to Alabama history. Sanders-Fortier said it is important to honor all of the state’s history and “to heal from our past so we can move forward as a state.” “Many of the events in our state’s history have been traumatizing, been traumatizing to African-American folk to Indigenous folk to white folk,” she said, adding that healing means considering the “hurt of each group.”
