Embezzlement, theft charges lodged against State Sen. Katrina Robinson

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07/30/2020

Screen Shot 2020-07-30 at 10.31.25 AM — State Sen. Katrina Robinson and her attorneys -- Janika White and Kamilah Turner -- held a press conference after the charges against Robinson were announced Wednesday afternoon. (Screen capture).

UPDATED —

Two years after being elected to represent District 33, state Sen. Katrina Robinson, 39, faces federal charges of theft and embezzlement involving government programs and wire fraud.

At a press conference held in front of the D’Army Bailey Courthouse on Wednesday afternoon after the charges were detailed, Robinson asked family, friends and supporters to stick with her through the legal process.

“It is believed that if I were not in the position that I am in, if I did not champion the voices, views and faces that I represent, that I would not be in this moment right now,” she said.

Sen. Katrina Robinson addresses the federal complaint filed against her. (Screen capture)

“I am committed to continue to serve with the same integrity, the same passion that I have demonstrated since I was elected to this office.”

Robinson, who is executive director of The Healthcare Institute (THI), a provider of educational and training programs for jobs in the healthcare field, said she remained equally as committed to continuing to provide career pathways in the health care industry en route to bridging the healthcare gap.

D. Michael Dunavant, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, made the charges public earlier Wednesday.

“Protection of the United States Treasury and federal grant programs against theft, fraud, waste and abuse is a top priority of this office and the Department of Justice,” Dunavant said.

According to the unsealed criminal complaint, during the period of 2015-19 THI received over $2.2 million in federal grants from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The complaint alleges that during the 2015-19 time frame Robinson stole more than $600,000 from THI, paying herself more than what was allowed under the terms of the HRSA grant. Also alleged is that Robinson used THI funds for payments and purchases benefiting herself and immediate family members.

Alleged payments and purchases include:
* A vehicle for her daughter;
* Clothing, accessories and hair and beauty products;
* Expenses related to her wedding and honeymoon, and later, legal fees for her divorce;
* Payments on her personal debts, including credit cards, store charge cards,
student loans, and other personal loans;
* Travel and entertainment for herself and her family;
* Improvements to her personal residence;
* Expenses related to a body aesthetics business she owned;
* A snow cone business operated by her children, and
* An event for her State Senate campaign.

If convicted, Robinson faces a possible sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison, three years supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. There is no parole in the federal system. The case will be presented to a federal grand jury at a later date to consider an indictment.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG).

Attorneys Janika White (foreground) and Kamilah Turner represent Sen. Katrina Robinson. (Screen capture)

Attorneys Janika White and Kamilah Turner represent Robinson, who did not field questions after the press conference.

White stressed that her client had not been indicted and had been cooperative with investigators. She said one of the statues used to bring the complaint was deemed broad and overused by many legal observers.

“Sen. Robinson has a story to tell and she is eager to tell that story. We believe that once the facts come out and her story is told, she will be vindicated.”

State Sen. Katrina Robinson (Photo: Tyrone P. Easley)

The investigation, said White, unfolded amid the pandemic and that during that time Robinson had been active as a registered nurse “serving on the front line” in New York City.

“She has dedicated her life to service. She has sacrificed to serve,” said White.

“Remember to keep her in your thoughts and prayers during this trying time. She has been here to fill a need and she has been filling that need.”

Learning of the charges, the Senate Democratic Caucus issued this statement: “It’s clear that Sen. Robinson’s work in the state legislature on behalf of her constituents is not in question here today. Just like every other American, Sen. Robinson deserves the presumption of innocence and due process under the law. Her case should be resolved by a court of law, not by the court of public opinion.”

State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, chairman of the Tennessee Caucus of Black Legislators, said there would be no statement concerning the matter at this time.

State Rep. Barbara Cooper, the oldest member of the Tennessee General Assembly, said: “That is very unfortunate, but judgment should be reserved for court when jurors will hear all the evidence in the case. Everyone deserves their day in court.”

Father of teen killed by marshals now set to face his day in court

By

Terrisa Coreen Mark

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07/30/2020

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Sonny Webber faces a scheduled court appearance Thursday (July 30) on multiple felony charges stemming from the violent reaction that resulted after his son was fatally shot by U.S. Marshals last year.

He was charged with 53 counts of aggravated assault towards the officers after the protests. In his view, the multiple charges are authorities’ way of blaming him for how others reacted after his son was killed.

“I can’t even grieve right because this is what my time and energy has to go into, dealing with these court cases,” he said.

His son, Brandon Webber, 20, was shot and killed June 12, 2019, at his mother’s driveway at 2075 Durham in Frayser.

A sketch of Brandon Webber hanging on a wall in his mother’s house. (Photo: Terrisa C. Mark)

Authorities alleged that, a few days prior to Webber being shot and killed, he shot a man five times in Hernando, Miss. during a potential car sale. Officers said Webber stole the car and made his way back to Memphis.

Marshals reported that they shot Webber as they approached him to serve a warrant. They say he posed a threat by ramming their vehicles and pointing a gun towards them.

The shooting enraged Frayser residents, who believed the officers used excessive force. Twenty-four police officers were injured and their vehicles were damaged by rocks.

The incident brought national attention to Memphis.

On June 10, Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich announced that no charges would be placed against the officers who killed Brandon.

Sonny Webber (left): “I didn’t wake up on that day thinking and believing in a couple of hours they are going to kill my son, so let me get ready to start a protest and a riot. That’s crazy.” (Photo Terrisa C. Mark)

“People still calling it a protest,” said Webber. “No. That was not a protest. That was a reaction to what happened to my son that night.

“To form a protest, something had to happen before then. No! this was the same day and was not a protest.”

Webber is outraged that the charges have not been dropped.

“I didn’t wake up on that day thinking and believing in a couple of hours they are going to kill my son, so let me get ready to start a protest and a riot. That’s crazy,” said Webber.

Webber compared the Frayser unrest to nationwide protests over the May 25 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

“Who are you going to arrest for all those protests and riots? You can’t blame one person or the family members of these victims,” he said.

As for his son, Sonny Webber wonders how authorities can justify shooting his son 16 times.

“Shooting someone that many times, you can’t justify it,” he said.

Brandon’s, mother Jaleta Clark, does not believe official reports about the shooting.

“There were bullet wounds through my son’s upper torso and legs, there were bullet wounds through his hands where he placed them up towards his face to protect him, the entire back half of his head was blown off,” she said.

Clark believes the autopsy report proves her son did not point a gun at the marshals because all the bullet wounds were in a downward position.

Brandon’s parents are upset about how the situation was handled.

“They plotted and waited for my son. Why didn’t Memphis Police Department put him on the TV saying there is a warrant out for him,” Clark said.

“They watched and followed my son all day long instead of coming to us and saying there was a warrant for him.”

Parents: Going all virtual is another ‘challenge to overcome’

By

Joy Doss

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07/30/2020

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20200730_010511 — The $750,000 donated by Shelby County Schools funds targets purchasing headsets and other digital devices for students to use while learning from home.

With word Monday that Shelby County Schools will open on Aug. 31 as a
virtual experience, parents now are in an accelerated mode to wrap their minds
around yet another adjustment forced by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

According to Supt. Joris Ray, schools will stay on the virtual path pending
further notice.

Data reported by SCS indicated that 80 percent of parents are in agreement
that virtual learning was the option of choice.

After the announcement, The New Tri-State Defender sampled Memphis
parents to get a community-level feel for the decision and the uncertainty ahead.

Takeisha Berry Brooks, SCS parent (school TBC)
Owner, A Natural Affair

“I think virtual is great, although I know it’s going to take some dedication
and work from the parents. Considering what we have going on and not knowing
how long COVID is going to exist and not having a treatment for it, it’s all very
scary.

“I feel that if the schools open back up, the numbers will increase. I just
don’t want to expose my children. Every child should be tested if they are going to
back to classrooms at least 14 days before the first day. It will be a better, safer
approach if we know who has tested positive or negative.”

Lee Rankin
Attorney, The Lee Rankin Group, STEAM Parent

“I am personally relieved at SCS’s decision for all students to attend
virtually this upcoming semester. That’s a difficult decision for any parent to make
– but especially for those without the option of staying home, lacking resources
and childcare for their children. I was heartened to see that SCS is circulating info regarding childcare resources and providing electronic devices to those who need
them.

“As a community we have this opportunity to wrap our arms around those
most affected by this pandemic – instead of always taking shots at a school system
charged with educating a large population of children who live in some of the
poorest ZIP codes in the nation. As the African proverb goes, “It takes an entire
village to raise a child.”

Cherhonda Mason-Ayers
Former educator, Bellevue parent

“In my opinion, the decision to go virtual was the very best decision SCS
could have made for students and teachers alike. While it may pose an
inconvenience, forcing parents to consider more creative ways of childcare and
requiring us to come together more as a village, it’s the best way to keep our
teachers and young people safe.

“There is just no way for the district to safely manage all of the variables and
outliers – bus riders, temperature checks, holding spaces for children who are ill,
transportation challenges for those ill students who need to be dismissed.

“Then we ask our teachers to go into this environment when they don’t want
to be exposed or bring anything home to their families or conversely expose the
students that they are supposed to serve and protect. Had they voted for in-person
class, it would have potentially been a domino effect of catastrophic proportions.

“I believe it would have been wise to have made the decision earlier to
ensure that teachers could have adequate training and best practices for virtual
teaching. And they should have devoted more time to creating a comprehensive
contingency plan that would help mitigate the issues with dead zones and getting
the kids the devices on time for the first the day of school.

“Nonetheless, I appreciate the final decision. I, as a parent, will be actively
working in tandem with the instructors to ensure that our son is actively engaged to
get the most out of his learning opportunities however they look.”

Cristina McCarter
Sea Isle Elementary parent; Owner, City Tasting Tours

“My decision was easy to make once I saw the plan. I was thinking for
elementary aged children…they have to sit down for six hours and wear masks, no
recess, lunch in one place… that would have been like torture for my son.

“Once they have too many cases, they would end up going virtual anyway.
So they may as well do it now so parents can prepare and adjust their homes and work schedules. Employers should be understanding about the situation. No one
should be at risk of being fired. (As a parent) you gotta do what you gotta do. My
mom used to take me to work with her sometimes.

“As far as the learning part, I don’t know how that’s going to work. We’ve
been doing stuff at home over the summer, though nothing consistent for over
three hours. I don’t know how I will keep his attention span for a two-hour
reading/English class! The other classes are 45 minutes to an hour so that should
be fine. I guess time will tell. But I will have to sit there with him to make sure he
isn’t falling asleep!”

Kynis Douglas
Central H.S. parent

“Our family planned for my daughter to go back to school. I’m 100 percent
responsible for her care and education, though my mother helps quite a bit. We
made the decision based on her age, maturity and educational needs. I understand
the risk associated with sending her back…the possible exposure to her, me and
my mother.

“In terms of what’s best for her education-wise, she needs to be in school. I
want the subject matter experts to teach her. It’s just the best model for her
learning style.

“I am not in any way surprised that everyone is starting the year off
virtually. To be honest, I anticipated it. It was the right decision from a public
health standpoint but it will impose tremendous challenges for working parents,
myself included. I work full time. Although I have flexibility and a tremendous
support system, I’m still in the middle of figuring out how this is supposed to be.

“One of the things I considered is forming a cohort but at the high school
level it’s a little more difficult. Their course loads vary greatly, more so than in
elementary and middle school. How do you cohort with people that are in different
classes? I’ve even joined a Facebook group of parents looking to form cohorts. I’m
looking at all the options and hoping that this will be a short-term arrangement.

“I’m also looking at the extracurricular part of it. It’s not the most important
piece but it is a critical component of her educational experience. I still have a lot
of questions at this point, but my goal remains the same – to make the best the
decisions for her as a parent. It’s just another challenge to overcome.”

Death of John Lewis fuels movement to rename Edmund Pettus Bridge for him

By

Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell

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07/30/2020

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The nation and the world met a young, hopeful John Lewis on March 7, 1965 when he helped lead marchers across Selma, Alabama’s Edmund Pettus Bridge on what became known as “Bloody Sunday.”

Lewis death last Friday (July 17) re-ignited a month-and-a-half-long effort to memorialize his legacy by renaming the Edmund Pettus Bridge in his honor. A petition to do just that now boasts well over half a million signatures.

“We should push mightily for this renaming,” said Faith Morris, chief communications officer at the National Civil Rights Museum. “Let’s be as serious, determined and focused in doing this for John Lewis as he was in fighting for us. I just wish he had lived to see this happen. I know he would be proud.”

Michael Starr Hopkins, a Washington, D.C. attorney and activist, started the petition at the end of May after protesting George Floyd’s murder, coming home from the protest march and watching “Selma” again.

Hopkins gave life to “The John Lewis Bridge” after researching the name of Edmund Pettus, who was a Confederate Army officer and a grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. He urged others to sign the petition, declaring, “We can’t miss this moment.”

Morris recalls the distinct honor of meeting Lewis at a soiree in the nation’s capital.

“Congressman Lewis danced the night away, light-footed and fancy free,” Morris said. “This was not the John Lewis I expected because what I had seen of him before then was a very serious, very determined, very focused man. This John Lewis just wanted to enjoy the evening, and he did. I even got in a dance and a laugh with him. I loved the contrast.”

Lewis was aware that the petition had been started at the time of his death. When the announcement was made that he had lost his fight with pancreatic cancer, hundreds of thousands rushed to sign the petition.

The Change.org document is the largest petition ever started on Change.org.

Morris recalls a very great debt of gratitude owed by the National Civil Rights Museum to Lewis

“Congressman Lewis did something very special for us,” Morris said. “He brought his Congressional Pilgrimage with a delegation of 35 representatives from all over the country to the Museum in March of 2018. He said it was important for Congress to understand the trials and tribulations of the Movement. That they needed to understand what the Movement was about, and why it was still going on.

“We were all deeply moved. I got to talk to him over lunch, thank him for that special moment, and get another promise that he would return April 4, 2018, for MLK50. He promised, and he did return.”

The renaming is not without its controversy, however, Morris acknowledged. Some have argued that the renaming would be a disservice to the other protesters who marched and endured violent beatings that day. Lynda Lowery, who was 14 at the time, and received 35 stitches to her head that day, is among those who have voiced opposition to the renaming.

Hopkins, the petition’s author, said of the opposition, “If we get so busy arguing, I’m not sure we will have this chance again.”

This year, when Lewis made the now symbolic march across the Pettus Bridge, he said: “On this bridge, some of us gave a little blood to help redeem the soul of America. Our country is a better country. We are a better people, but we have still have a distance to go before we get there.”

Morris said every American, no matter what race or creed, should support the move to rename the Pettus Bridge in honor of Lewis.

“Every time I walk across the symbolic Edmund Pettis Bridge in the “Selma” exhibit at the Museum, I think about John Lewis,” Morris said.

“It is here that we tell the story of ‘Bloody Sunday.’ It’s important that this bridge be named for Lewis, an American hero who risked his life and that of the 600 others who made the long, dangerous walk for voting rights. It should not remain named for Pettus, a Confederate general and KKK leader, who I don’t consider worthy of such an honor.”

Elwin Wilson, who confessed to beating Lewis, came to him and apologized, asking forgiveness for his racist acts against numerous African Americans in Selma. Wilson went to each one in Selma who was still living. Wilson said he had an awakening after President Obama was elected to office.

He asked Lewis to forgive him.

Lewis did, and they embraced.

Biden vows to fight racial inequality with economic agenda

By

Associated Press

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07/28/2020

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1000 — The notes of Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden reference Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., among other things as he speaks at a campaign event at the William "Hicks" Anderson Community Center in Wilmington, Del., Tuesday, July 28, 2020.(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

by Will Weissert and Bill Barrow —

WILMINGTON, Del. — Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden promised Tuesday that his economic agenda would combat long-standing racial inequalities as he sought to draw another sharp contrast with President Donald Trump.

Biden said the Republican president is exacerbating social discord across the country, including by sending federal authorities into major cities under the pretense of addressing crime. And he said Trump has little interest in addressing the racism that Biden said has been laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic, which disproportionately claims people of color as its victims, or in an election-year reckoning with police violence against Black men.

“He can’t turn the economy around. He’s determined to stoke division and chaos,” Biden said, speaking in a community center gymnasium in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. “It’s not good for the country, but Donald Trump doesn’t care. His campaign is failing and he’s looking for a lifeline.”

Biden countered with a litany of proposals to steer federal money and tax credits to small business and economic development programs for minority-owned firms and disadvantaged neighborhoods. Biden also said he’d encourage home ownership to help close wealth gaps among minority communities and push the nation’s banking system, including the Federal Reserve, to more directly address economic inequality.

Many of his proposals — and the billions in federal spending needed to pay for it — had already been promised as part of previous, larger Biden plans to jump-start the economy when the coronavirus outbreak begins to recede. But as protests against institutional racism and police brutality have swept the country in recent months, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is attempting to show voters that he’s committed to implementing specific remedies that can promote racial and economic equality should he win the White House in November.

Biden’s speech and his subsequent question-and-answer session with reporters – just his third extended news conference in four months – comes as he nears a decision on a running mate. Biden came prepared a talk about at least one of the top contenders: California Sen. Kamala Harris.

An Associated Press photographer captured Biden’s hand-written notes with talking points on several issues. Topping the list was Harris.

A recent Politico story alleged that Biden’s longtime friend and vetting committee leader Chris Dodd, a former Democratic senator like Biden, had raised concerns about Harris going after Biden last June on the debate stage and showing “no remorse” in conversations with Biden’s campaign. On Biden’s notepad, he’d written below Harris’s name: “Do not hold grudges” and “Great respect for her.”

Biden did not field a question specifically about Harris. But he has praised her extensively, and he’s confirmed in recent weeks that his short list for vice president includes several women of color. His decision is expected to have unusual importance given his age, 77, and the fact that he’s a white man leading a diverse party.

Recent polls have shown Biden leading Trump nationally and in many competitive states that determine the Electoral College outcome. But Biden’s aides are keenly aware that Hillary Clinton lost key battleground states four years ago in part because of a drop in turnout among nonwhite voters from what President Barack Obama drew in 2012.

As part of his attacks on Trump’s approach to race, Biden blasted the president for ordering federal authorities to intervene against protests in places like Portland, Oregon, and Chicago, while small businesses around the country continue to struggle or shut down because of the coronavirus.

The president, Biden said, is trying to distract and scare voters. Biden said most demonstrators are “peaceful protesters” who don’t require a response from the federal government. “Arsonists and anarchists should be prosecuted,” Biden said, and “local law enforcement can do that.”

Still, Biden said “this election is not just about voting against Donald Trump. It’s about rising to this moment of crisis, understanding people’s struggle and building a future worthy of their courage and ambition to overcome.”

And he said that means thinking about every policy debate in terms of structural inequalities.

The former vice president wants to take $30 billion, or 10% of federal investment he’s already promised as part of larger economic plans, and funnel it into a “Small Business Opportunity Fund” designed to leverage $5 of private investment for minority owned enterprises for each $1 in public funds allocated. He also plans to spend $50 billion to provide startup capital that can help entrepreneurs of color start businesses in disadvantaged areas.

To encourage home ownership, the plan would create a $15,000 federal tax credit to help low-and middle-income families cover down payments on their first homes. It also pledges to build 1.5 million new homes and public housing units in hopes of addressing the affordable housing crisis that has hit many of the nation’s cities and disproportionately hurt people of color.

Biden also said the Federal Reserve’s mission should be revised to specifically charge the central bank with addressing “persistent racial gaps” in economic opportunities and wealth, rather than a more general focus on maximum employment and stable pricing.

Biden similarly vowed to undo Trump administration regulatory changes that the Democratic presidential nominee says “gutted” Obama administration rules preventing housing discrimination and unfair lending practices.

Asked about the possibility of a congressional study on the feasibility of federal reparations to descendants of enslaved Black people, senior campaign officials said Biden wouldn’t oppose it. But they defended Tuesday’s proposal as doing more to benefit Black Americans in the short term, saying, “He is not going to wait on a study to create change.”

Biden’s plan also doesn’t endorse legalizing marijuana, though it seeks to clear court hurdles so states can better identify nonviolent offenders whose records they might opt to expunge. Black and Hispanic Americans often face far harsher penalties for crimes involving marijuana possession than white people.

The Democratic National Committee’s convention platform committee voted by a wide margin on Monday to keep language calling for legalization of marijuana nationwide out of the party’s platform.

POLITICS 2020: Coalition of office-holding Democrats embrace slate of candidates

By

Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell

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07/28/2020

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Citing “unusual times,” a cadre of Democratic office holders Monday (July 27) endorsed candidates for upcoming elections.

“It is unusual for elected officials to call a press conference to endorse candidates in an election,” said Memphis City Councilmember Michalyn Easter-Thomas. “But these are unusual times. We need candidates that embody the continued strength and tenacity to push our needs and progressive wants forward.”

The office holders briefly spoke about the abject poverty and other concerns dogging the city and county.

A list of candidates being endorsed by the coalition was read by Easter-Thomas for Shelby County voters.

Garnering endorsements were:

Tennessee House of Representatives: Antonio Parkinson, London Lamar, Jesse Chism, Dwayne Thompson, Jerri Green, Torrey Harris and Larry Miller.
Tennessee state senator: Sara Kyle.
Shelby County School Board: Althea Green, Kevin Woods, Scott McCormick and Stephanie Love.
Shelby County General Sessions Court Clerk: Joe Brown.
S. House of Representatives Ninth District: Steve Cohen.

“Most of these endorsees are incumbents because we want to make sure the right candidates are elected to the right seats,” said Parkinson. “We want our people to have the best quality of life, and we are building a coalition.”

Parkinson said there are “70-plus African-American elected officials in Memphis and Shelby County,” but people in Memphis and Shelby County are among the most impoverished cities and counties in the nation. The endorsing coalition wants to “change this narrative.”

State Rep. Lamar sounded an alarm for voters to exercise their right to vote because early voting numbers are concerning.

“Early voting has started and we need everyone to vote. …Voter turnout is showing some of the lowest numbers we’ve seen in a long time,” Lamar said.

“We have the opportunity to choose leaders who will keep our people as safe as possible and ensure all citizens are treated equally.”

Shelby County Schools Board member Stephanie Love said the endorsements were important because elected officials on all levels must work together in the common goals of providing a good education to children and helping families deal with low-household income, reliable transportation and other concerns.

Love also addressed a statement made by Shelby County Health Department Director Alisa Haushalter officials in a recent COVID-19 Joint Task Force update.

“We must learn to co-exist with COVID-19 and, when children return to school, we must settle in our minds that some of them are going to get sick,” Haushalter said.

In response, Love said: “As a school board member and parent, we must keep our children and our educators safe. And right now, it is unsafe to return to school. That is why I am thankful our superintendent, Dr. Joris Ray, has said we will return to school virtually.”

City Councilman Martavius Jones, a former school board member, weighed in on the school-reopening issue.

“Mayor Jim Strickland has made it clear that the Health Department has been empowered to determine conditions of school reopening,” Jones said. “Now the City Council can pass a resolution on the matter, but I say to Health Department officials, ‘You choose which one of yours you want to sacrifice.’ I will not roll the dice with mine.”

Parkinson said sending children physically back to school was a part of what he called the Republican agenda.

“They will not fund health care so people can get proper treatment. But they want to send our children back in an environment where the virus thrives. That’s why these endorsements are so important.”

Parkinson said the coalition and the supported candidates want to eradicate poverty in Memphis and Shelby County “and all of its evil cousins – bad public education, crime, health disparities and adverse childhood experiences.”

Other officials supporting the endorsements, but not present during Monday’s gathering, were County Commissioners Mickell Lowery, Tami Sawyer, Reginald Milton, Willie Brooks and Van Turner Jr., and City Councilmember Rhonda Logan.

Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis lies in state at Capitol

By

Associated Press

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07/28/2020

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by Bill Barrow and Andrew Taylor —

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a solemn display of bipartisan unity, congressional leaders praised Democratic Rep. John Lewis as a moral force for the nation in a Capitol Rotunda memorial service rich with symbolism and punctuated by the booming, recorded voice of the late civil rights icon.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Lewis the “conscience of the Congress” who was “revered and beloved on both sides of the aisle, on both sides of the Capitol.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised the longtime Georgia congressman as a model of courage and a “peacemaker.”

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” McConnell, a Republican, said Monday, quoting the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “But that is never automatic. History only bent toward what’s right because people like John paid the price.”

Lewis died July 17 at the age of 80. Born to sharecroppers during Jim Crow segregation, he was beaten by Alabama state troopers during the civil rights movement, spoke ahead of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the 1963 March on Washington and was awarded the Medal of Freedom by the nation’s first Black president in 2011.

Dozens of lawmakers looked on Monday as Lewis’ flag-draped casket sat atop the catafalque built for President Abraham Lincoln. Several wiped away tears as the late congressman’s voice echoed off the marble and gilded walls. Lewis was the first Black lawmaker to lie in state in the Rotunda.

“You must find a way to get in the way. You must find a way to get in trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble,” Lewis intoned in a recorded commencement address he’d delivered in his hometown of Atlanta. “Use what you have … to help make our country and make our world a better place, where no one will be left out or left behind. … It is your time.”

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus wore masks with the message “Good Trouble,” a nod to Lewis’ signature advice and the COVID-19 pandemic that has made for unusual funeral arrangements.

The ceremony was the latest in a series of public remembrances. Pelosi, who counted Lewis as a close friend, met his casket earlier Monday at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, and Lewis’s motorcade stopped at Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House as it wound through Washington before arriving at the Capitol.

The Democratic speaker noted Lewis, frail with cancer, had come to the newly painted plaza weeks ago to stand “in solidarity” amid nationwide protests against systemic racism and police brutality. She called the image of Lewis “an iconic picture of justice” and juxtaposed it with another image that seared Lewis into the national memory. In that frame, “an iconic picture of injustice,” Pelosi said, Lewis is collapsed and bleeding near the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 1965, when white state troopers beat him and other Black Americans as they demanded voting rights.

Following the Rotunda service, Lewis’ body was moved to the steps on the Capitol’s east side in public view, an unusual sequence required because the pandemic has closed the Capitol to visitors.

Late into the night, a long line of visitors formed outside the Capitol as members of the public quietly, and with appropriate socially distant spacing, came to pay their respects to Lewis.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden paid his respects Monday afternoon. The pair became friends over their two decades on Capitol Hill together and Biden’s two terms as vice president to President Barack Obama, who awarded Lewis the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Notably absent from the ceremonies was President Donald Trump. Lewis once called Trump an illegitimate president and chided him for stoking racial discord. Trump countered by blasting Lewis’ Atlanta district as “crime-infested.” Trump said Monday that he would not go to the Capitol, but Vice President Mike Pence and his wife paid their respects.

Just ahead of the ceremonies, the House passed a bill to establish a new federal commission to study conditions that affect Black men and boys.

Born near Troy, Alabama, Lewis was among the original Freedom Riders, young activists who boarded commercial passenger buses and traveled through the segregated Jim Crow South in the early 1960s. They were assaulted at many stops, by citizens and authorities alike. Lewis was the youngest and last-living of those who spoke on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at the March on Washington.

The Bloody Sunday events in Selma two years later forged much of Lewis’ public identity. He was at the head of hundreds of civil rights protesters who attempted to march from the Black Belt city to the Alabama Capitol in Montgomery.

The marchers completed the journey weeks later under the protection of federal authorities, but then-Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace, an outspoken segregationist at the time, refused to meet the marchers when they arrived at the Capitol. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 on Aug. 6 of that year.

Lewis spoke of those critical months for the rest of his life as he championed voting rights as the foundation of democracy, and he returned to Selma many times for commemorations at the site where authorities had brutalized him and others. “The vote is precious. It is almost sacred,” he said again and again. “It is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in a democracy.”

The Supreme Court scaled back the seminal voting law in 2012; an overhauled version remains bottle-necked on Capitol Hill, with Democrats pushing a draft that McConnell and most of his fellow Republicans oppose. The new version would carry Lewis’ name.

Lewis crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge for the last time Sunday on a horse-drawn carriage before an automobile hearse transported him to the Alabama Capitol, where he lay in repose. He was escorted by Alabama state troopers, this time with Black officers in their ranks, and his casket stood down the hall from the office where Wallace had peered out of his window at the citizens he refused to meet.

After the memorial in Washington, Lewis’s body will return to Georgia. He will have a private funeral Thursday at Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, which King once led.

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(Barrow reported from Birmingham, Ala. Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.)

Shelby County Schools to open virtually this fall; in-person learning off the table

By

Chalkbeat Tennessee

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07/27/2020

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scs online — Shelby County Schools superintendent Joris Ray announced today that all schools will open virtually this fall.

by Jacinthia Jones —

Shelby County Schools Superintendent Joris Ray announced on Monday that all district schools will open virtually on August 31 and will remain so until further notice. The decision removes the in-person learning option that parents initially could have chosen.

“As hard as it was to close schools (last spring), sending students back to them is even more complicated,” he noted. “Unlike the NBA, we cannot keep each student in a bubble to mitigate the exposure to the virus once they exit the classroom,” he said, referring to the basketball league’s strict quarantine that requires the players to live, practice, and play all games in a closed environment.

The decision for the district’s 100,000 schoolchildren and 15,000 employees comes after more than 80% of families requested the virtual learning option, according to a release from the school district. Parents had to decide last week.

“Returning to school in-person while coronavirus cases increase in our community puts the safety of our students and staff at greater risk — a risk the district is not willing to take,” said the school board’s chairwoman Miska Clay Bibbs in a statement.

Ray promised when classes restart this fall, they won’t resemble how classes ended last spring. When the coronavirus forced campuses to shut down early, Shelby County Schools relied mainly on homework packets and recorded lessons broadcast on public television. This time, he said, every student will have a digital device, internet hotspot, and live interaction with teachers and peers daily.

Ray had said plans for opening schools during the pandemic were fluid and suggested earlier this month that in-person classes might not happen. In a recorded video address, Ray said that it is “tragic” that the health of students and reopening of schools had turned into “partisan noise.” He said he will continue to rely on scientific evidence in making decisions for Tennessee’s largest school district.

`

Ticking off a litany of coronavirus statistics, including some 18,000 cases and 250 deaths in Shelby County, Ray said that science suggests that by September that Memphis will experience a similar trajectory as New York, which was the epicenter of the nation’s coronavirus crisis in the spring.

“I concur with other superintendents across the country that the phrase ‘safe opening of schools” is largely a myth,” he said. “Direction signs on floors, spacing desks, more hand sanitizer, and masks cannot make a school safe in a community that is experiencing a daily triple-digit increase of virus cases, hospital admissions and death.”

Even though people are eager to return to normal routines, Ray said there is too much uncertainty about the role children play in the spread of COVID-19 and that too much rests on the safety and lives of students and employees.

Last week, teachers were given the option to teach remotely or in classrooms after about 80 educators and supporters protested outside school district offices. A request for information on how many teachers had chosen remote learning was not immediately answered.

Ray said teachers will have the option to teach remotely or return to classrooms to teach their lessons online. More information is expected later on how that will work.

Tennessee resists White House COVID-19 recommendations

By

Associated Press

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07/27/2020

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birx in tenn — White House COVID-19 task force leader Deborah Birx was in Nashville Monday to discuss what Gov. Bill Lee framed as Tennessee's continued strategies for fighting COVID-19. (Photo: Gov. Bill on Twitter)

by Kimberlee Kruesi —

NASHVILLE — Tennessee stands at the cusp at being able to significantly decrease new cases of the coronavirus and must take stronger steps to prevent its spread, warned White House COVID-19 task force leader Deborah Birx, who met with state and local health leaders Monday in Nashville.

Birx recently identified Nashville as one of 11 cities with a surge in coronavirus cases that need aggressive action while noting that many of the state’s rural areas have seen a worrisome outbreak.

“We’ve done a lot of modeling and we have found that if you all wear a mask — all Tennesseans — in every public area and you stop going to bars, and in fact close the bars,and limit your indoor dining, that we can have as big of an impact on decreasing new cases as we had with sheltering in place,” Birx told reporters.

“Tennessee is at that inflection point,” she said.

However, her remarks fell flat with Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who has vowed he won’t shut down the state’s economy again and has resisted repeated calls to issue a statewide mask mandate.

“I’ve been to counties that have a mandate where people are not wearing masks as well,” Lee said shortly after Birx’s remarks. “People wear masks because they believe there is a reason to do so and I believe that they will increasingly understand that as their local officials advocate for that.”

“I appreciate their recommendations and we take them seriously,” Lee added, yet acknowledged that he had no plans to institute any further business restrictions as urged by Birx — who has stopped by Tennessee after recently visiting Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky to meet with local leaders about COVID-19.

Currently, health officials estimate that up to 70 percent of Tennessee’s 95 counties have implemented some sort of mask mandate.

Restaurants are barred from staying open past 10 p.m. in Nashville. In Shelby County, which encompasses Memphis, bars that don’t serve food are closed and restaurants have to close at 10 p.m.

According to the Shelby County Health Department, the total of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Shelby County was 19,166, with 402 new cases reported during the previous 24 hours. The number of deaths was 262, with no new deaths reported from the previous day. The daily positivity rate registered 13.4 percent, driving the overall rate to 10 percent – the level local health officials have said they wanted to stay below.

Meanwhile on Monday, a group of Tennessee doctors that has been pushing for stricter virus prevention measures continued their own call for a statewide mask mandate.

In a news conference, the doctors expressed hope that pressure from the White House would cause Lee to change his mind about masks.

“We need a mask mandate immediately and we need to delay the start of in-person classes to allow the mandate to work,” pulmonary and critical care physician Dr. Aaron Milstone said, citing the uncontrolled spread of the virus in Tennessee.

Otherwise, he said, the state must shut down again or just accept the fact that many more people are going to die.

In other virus news, Tennessee’s largest school district said Monday that it plans to start its school year Aug. 31 with a fully virtual learning program for students.

Shelby County Schools said in a news release that teachers will have the options to teach remotely or in classrooms, but all students will learn online at home until further notice.

Students will receive a digital device and “students will have live interaction with their teachers and peers every day as they follow the routine of a regular school day,” the news release said.

Schools will prepare meals and multiday meal packs will be available for pickup to reduce the number of times families have to come to campus, the district said.

The Shelby County school district has 100,000 students and about 15,000 employees. The county has reported more than 19,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 262 deaths.

Tennessee reported more than 2,500 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus across the state Monday, for a total of nearly 96,500.

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(Associated Press writers Adrian Sainz contributed from Memphis and Travis Loller contributed from Nashville.)

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(Follow AP coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.)

NNPA Teams with Magic Johnson to Fund Over $100 Million in PPP Loans for Minority and Women-Owned Businesses

By

NNPA NewsWire

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07/27/2020

0

chavis-magic-johnson-featured-web — Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. (left), president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and Earvin “Magic” Johnson, majority owner of EquiTrust, the nation’s largest minority-owned insurance company.

(Washington, DC) — Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., president/CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), says he and the NNPA have agreed to assist the efforts of Earvin “Magic” Johnson, majority owner of EquiTrust, the nation’s largest minority-owned insurance company, and MBE Capital Partners (MBECP), the largest certified minority-owned asset-based lender, in funding over $100 million in PPP loans.

EquiTrust, MBECP and the NNPA together today are focused on informing and encouraging minority- and women-owned businesses throughout the United States to take advantage of the current PPP loan opportunities for businesses in underserved communities.

Dr. Chavis emphasized, “I have the highest regard and respect for the entrepreneurial leadership and courage of Earvin Magic Johnson. The NNPA, therefore, is enthusiastic and pleased to assist Johnson’s EquiTrust and with MBE Capital to enhance the economic recovery of African American and other minority owned businesses amidst the devastating COVID-19 pandemic in America. Our businesses are the lifeblood of our communities.”

Johnson’s EquiTrust is providing critical financial support to underserved communities and businesses that have been traditionally neglected. These small and diverse businesses often have difficulty developing strong lending relationships with big banks. According to the Center for Responsible Lending, up to 90% of businesses owned by people of color have been, or will likely be, shut out of the PPP program.

MBE Capital is perfectly positioned to help small and diverse businesses take advantage of this latest round of PPP funding; and the company is an approved SBA lender with over 20 years of experience serving diverse and minority businesses. They can process up to 5,000 loans per day, utilizing end-to-end online technology to accept, underwrite and transmit the applications to the SBA. MBE Capital has already processed over $300,000,000 in PPP loans — including the EquiTrust partnership funding $100,000,000.

The NNPA is the nation’s largest trade association of African American-owned newspapers and media businesses that reach 22.4 million readers per week across the nation.

MBECP has also partnered with The Enterprise Center (TEC), a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), providing them with technology and resources to help them process over $100,000,000 in PPP loans. This will allow TEC’s CDFI to process more SBA loans in two weeks then they have in the last 10 years.

By working with Earvin “Magic” Johnson’s EquiTrust, MBECP’s pipeline is over $500,000,000. MBE Capital is committed to providing vital funding for small businesses in underserved communities. With almost $100 billion left in the second round of PPP funding, it is imperative that vulnerable small businesses are able to secure resources needed to sustain themselves.

According to Rafael Martinez, CEO of MBE Capital: “I contacted EquiTrust, to be an additional strategic partner because I know that EquiTrust believes in changing outcomes for underserved communities the way I do. The team at EquiTrust and my direct contact Kenyatta Matheny were incredible, and we put this deal together from first call to contracts in a week.” He added: “After receiving hundreds of emails and calls from applicants asking if they can receive their PPP loans as soon as possible because this was a last hope to stay open – and in some cases to keep food on the tables of their employees – I was moved to expand this and look to fund over 20,000 PPP loans for minority companies.”

“This is a unique SBA-backed opportunity to use the vast resources of EquiTrust’s to prudently provide real and much needed cash to deserving minority and women-owned businesses that find it difficult to secure such funding through traditional means,” said Eric Holoman, President and Chief Executive Officer of EquiTrust. “The jobs saved will make a significant difference to their families and communities. Equitrust is excited to partner with Rafael Martinez and MBECP to do this and more as we try to level the playing field for businesses that are the backbone of America.”

APPLY FOR A PPP LOAN TODAY OR LEARN MORE: https://mbeppp.com/go/nnpa/

Loan Referral Code: NNPA

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