WSSN Stories

Two weeks ago, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp drew sharp criticisms from African Americans across the country.

Black politicians, social media commenters, and others blasted the governor, saying his decision to lift his state’s month-long stay-at-home order by first opening businesses like barbershops, nail salons, sneaker stores, tattoo parlors, gyms, and bowling alleys put the lives of Blacks at risk. Those are businesses African Americans frequent, his critics pointed out.

But unlike Georgia, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said businesses like barbershops, beauty shops, and nail salons will not be allowed to begin servicing their customers again until the third phase of the Golden State’s reopening plan.

“Phase three is not a year away. It’s not six months away. It’s not even three months away. It may not even be more than a month away,” Newsom said at his daily press conference Friday. “We just want to make sure we have a protocol in place to secure customer safety, employee safety, and allow the businesses to thrive in a way that is sustainable.”

On May 8, California started the second in a four-stage process of reopening business and public spaces shut down during the COVID-19 crisis on a category-by-category basis. Businesses in industries such as retail, manufacturing, logistics, and others that fit certain safety requirements opened Friday, still maintaining recommendations for wearing masks and gloves, and maintain a social distance of six feet between people.

Now, smaller businesses like salons and barbershops that require closer contact between people  — and that have been hit hard in the pocket by coronavirus-related shutdowns  —  are calling on the California governor, state legislature and other politicians to allow them to return to work.

The Black Small Business Association of California (BSBA) wrote letters to Sacramento Mayor Darryl Steinberg and Gov. Gavin Newsom urging them to consider allowing barbers and cosmetologists to safely resume their business.

“While we understand the need to prioritize public health and safety during this unprecedented crisis, the economic devastation of this moment cannot be overstated,” the letter read. “This loss of income is compounded by the limits of California’s safety-net services and has left too many barbers and cosmetologists without assistance during this difficult time.”

The BSBA claimed that many of the protections federal and state officials promised to small businesses did not reach barbers and cosmetologists.

“For example, many of these individuals have applied for Unemployment Insurance, but were denied,” the letter read. “Others applied for the federal Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans through the Small Business Administration and were denied access to these funds as well. In addition, few if any have received access to information about local emergency funding options when these funds have been made available.”

In addition to those letters, the BSBA, along with the Mixed Cosmetology School, several barbers and cosmetologists wrote safety guidelines to serve as a model for how these specific businesses could begin reopening sooner rather than later.

Those guidelines include the implementation of personal protective gear, mandatory temperature checks, symptom questionnaires, and extensive disinfection.

Robert Brown, a barber at Another Look Hair Salon in Sacramento, highlighted some of the unique issues facing barbers and beauticians during the pandemic.

“Many African American owned salons didn’t qualify for the PPP loan because we rent booths to our stylists and barbers,” Brown said. “We didn’t have the payroll numbers to give banks to qualify.”

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a federal government stimulus loan program under the CARES act that provides cash to small businesses to cover payroll. The federal government forgives the loan if 75% of it is used to keep employees hired.

California joins several other states in reopening businesses after months of closures in the midst of this pandemic. But due to the size of the state, Gov. Newsom says, the reopening process has been based on the needs of different counties.

Kathryn Barger, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, detailed how Los Angeles County will cooperate with the governor’s reopening plan.

“[Los Angeles] County is in conversations with our state partners and wants to ensure any restrictions we ease are in the best interest of the health of all of our residents,” Barger said. “What’s best for other counties may not necessarily be right for Los Angeles County as we are the most densely populated county in the state, our guidelines will certainly look different than others.”

Dave Charles Presley Jr., a Rialto resident, and barber for 28 years had to move out of his apartment due to all of the revenue he has lost since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“It’s been an absolute nightmare,” Presley said. “I’m looking at all of these politicians with these fresh haircuts, yet our businesses are suffering. I know they didn’t cut that themselves.”

Presley also claims that he has waited for over a month to receive the unemployment benefits that he applied for after the governor issued his stay-at-home order.

Lorenzo Griffin, CEO of Laran Products, has been trying to help barbers like Presley as Laran Products only sells their merchandise directly to salons and barbershops.

“The beauty industry, the barbershops, and the beauty salons is the second-largest social institution in Black America, second only to the church,” Griffin said. “It’s vital that we open but it is absolutely vital that we stay safe when we open.”

Some have expressed concern about Black people returning to certain jobs during this reopening process. Dr. Melva Thompson-Robinson, Executive Director of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Center for Health Disparities Research, spoke about the many challenges Black people have been facing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“For the African American community, this has been something that has been centuries in the making in terms of the inequality and the racism that African Americans, in particular, have experienced,” Thompson-Robinson said. “As far as the African American community, they are often working in positions where they’d be considered essential workers. Not just as a doctor or nurse, but they are part of the janitorial staff or other essential staff.”

Thompson-Robinson also expressed her concern about the inherent racial bias in the medical community and explained how African Americans can combat that bias without coming across as hostile.

“You can advocate for yourself by having someone who can go with you, who can advocate on your behalf, or if you can’t have someone go with you, have someone put together a list of questions that have to be answered by the doctors so if you’re there by yourself, your issues and concerns aren’t being overlooked,” Thompson-Robinson said.

Comedy is the best medicine, especially in the times such as this with the Coronavirus pandemic. Comedian and actor, David A. Arnold’s, stand-up, Fat Ballerina, couldn’t have been released at an even better time such as this.

A standup comic, actor and writer, David A. Arnold is triple threat in the world of comedy.  As a comedian, he has performed all around the country and made various tv appearances.  He is known for his ART OF STANDDUP COMEDY (AOSC) master classes.  

For 11 years, he has taught the AOSC master classes to hundreds of novice and veteran comedians.  The AOSC class covers everything from structuring a joke to finding your comedic voice. Standouts among the many successful AOSC alumni include ABFF Comedy Wings Competition winners Zainab Johnson, Daphnique Springs and Amberia Allen, Tony Baker (Last Comic Standing), actors London Brown (HBO’s BALLERS) and James Davis (Comedy Central’s HOOD ADJACENT) as well as semi-finalist Jackie Fabulous of AMERICA’S GOT TALENT. Currently, AOSC boasts a waiting list of more than 300 people.

I recently interviewed Mr. Arnold where he chatted ore about his Netflix special, endeavors, and what inspired him to get into comedy.

Naomi K. Bonman: For starters, who is David Arnold?

David A. Arnold: David Arnold is someone who’s…it’s David A. Arnold. If you don’t put in the A you’re gonna get the white man that does all the soundtracks to James Bond, which I’m sure everybody will Google and be like ‘Who the hell is this?’, (laughs) he doesn’t look funny at all (laughs). But I’m a David A. Arnold. I’m a stand up comedian and television producer who probably has been making people laugh behind the scenes way longer than they even know. And now with my Netflix special, I’ve gotten a chance to come out and put a face to my comedy and my style of comedy, so with that and with the spark of my social media following, I got a chance to be seen. So I’m this dude who’s finally getting a chance for the world to see what I already I know, which is I’m funny.

Naomi K. Bonman: (laughs): And it’s working, I love it! So speaking of your Netflix special, Fat Ballerina, how does it feel to finally have your special on Netflix and what was the process like to get there?

David A Arnold: It feels great to have a special on Netflix because you finally get a chance to be seen on a world stage and get a chance to share stuff that you’ve been working on. As comedians that we do. We’re working on stuff in hopes to be able to share it on a national stage. and the things that you work on for years sometimes, you’re finally able to see people react to it. It’s kind of dope.

The process was long. I’ve been doing stand-up for 24 years. This was my third special, and my first first one that has been on a platform this large. It was working out; it was working the material out for many years. It was being denied. It was being turned down. It was being passed on and then eventually taking matters into my own hands and self-producing and putting the money up to do it and then getting my friend Kevin Hart to get behind me, and my management jumped on and was like, ‘This is good stuff”. And then with them behind it we took it over to Netflix and they looked at and had to put it up, so it was a process, but the part that I love the most is that I did it myself and I invested in myself because I believed in myself and it paid off.

Naomi K. Bonman: That is dope! We definitely have to invest in ourselves first.

David A. Arnold: Yeah, a lot of people won’t do that. A lot of people think they’re great. But are you great enough to put up 50, 200, 50,000 dollars on your idea if you had it to do so? A lot of people aren’t willing to do that. A lot of people will say that they’re good but that they need their money. You have to really believe. I’ve always been that guy from the beginning. From all of the short films that I wrote, directed and starred in, in 2005, I did a bunch of short films, and all of them I put my own money up and they all won awards at various film festivals around the country. I’ve never had a problem and that’s the one things I’m always going to bet on…David. Because I do the work. So that’s the dope part about it.

Naomi K. Bonman: So I was able to watch a few clips of Fat Ballerina and I definitely loved what I watched so far. So for those who have not tuned in yet, without giving too much away, what can people except from the special?

David A. Arnold: It’s going to take you on a journey through family and relationships, and marriage. It’s a real look at that stuff from my perspective, and I always tell people this set is for grown men who pay the bills. This a’int a set for if you gotta a little boyfriend and ya’ll splitting the rent and some of the stuff might not be for you, but truth of the matter is I do family, I do relationships. It’s all speaking of who I am. It speaks of the pettiness of the person that I am and how I see the world, and it’s actually very smart. I’m very proud of the work that we did.

Naomi K. Bonman: I haven’t gotten to watch the whole thing yet, but I love what I seen so far.

David A. Arnold: It’s doing good! My favorite is when I get people who hit me on social media and are are like, “Oh, my god! I’m only two and half minutes in and I can’t breathe!” (laughs)

Naomi K. Bonman: (laughs) Right…

David A. Arnold: That’s my favorite part; that when people get in and like right off the bat I come out just swinging. I think that to me is the best part. The retention rate on it is very high which is also dope for streaming stuff, so I’m very proud of that.

Naomi K. Bonman: So what inspired you to get into comedy? Have you always wanted to be a comedian or were you just thrown into it?

David A. Arnold: Well, when you graduate from high school with a 1.8, you a’int got too many choices…in life, so I always knew that I loved making people laugh. I was never the class clown, but I’ve always had this thing for storytelling and I feel that was what made me interested in it. Then I saw D.L. Hughley do it in the 90s when I was in the Navy and that’s when I was like, “Oh, I think I can do this. I can tell so many stories.” And that’s the kind of thing that got me into it. So after I got out of the military, I started doing that. I was kind of late in my life of getting started, but that’s when I started doing it and I haven’t looked back since.

Naomi K. Bonman: Awesome! That’s very inspiring. So in addition to comedy, you’re also an actor. You’ve been in The Real Husbands of Hollywood and the House Of Pain, just to name a few. So do you have any TV/Film projects that you’re currently working on as far as acting?

David A. Arnold: Well, I’m developing a show right now with Kevin Hart that’s based off a bit that I did in the stand-up special. I’m also in development for my next stand-up special. We already got a deal for another one, so I’m working on that. And I produce a lot of television. I produce and write. I write House of Payne and Meet the Browns. I wrote a show called Fuller House on Netflix. I wrote season 4 and 5 of that. I also wrote Real Husbands of Hollywood, a show called Zoe Ever After with Brandy. I’ve been writing and producing television for awhile. Before the virus shut us down, I was producing a show for some YouTubers called Jayden and Annie over at Nickelodeon. So I’m up and down the scale from some crazy comedies like Real Husbands of Hollywood to kid’s YouTube, like Jayden and Annie on Nickelodeon, so I’ve done all of it.

But I’m excited to show people the next special and ‘n excited to hopefully be able to get this television show based on my stand-up on the air. That would be kind of dope to get a chance for people to see more of who I am. So, yeah, I’m excited about that.

Naomi K. Bonman: You definitely stay busy and productive! That’s good though.

David A. Arnold: Mhmmmm! Got to feed these kids! (laughs)

Naomi K. Bonman: (laughs): So before the virus, you were headlining the Essence Festival’s comedy segment with Deon Cole, but as we know it got postponed to next year. But do you know if they’ll keep the same line-up? Can we except to see you there in 2021?

David A. Arnold: I don’t know if it’ll be the same line-up, but I love Deon Cole. Deon is a good friend of mine, so anytime that you get a chance to work with your friends is always dope. I don’t know if the line-up will be the same. Hopefully, when the time comes everybody’s schedule’s will line up and I’ll be available to do it. But I was doing that and I was doing TD Jakes’ A Time to Laugh tour that would’ve been starting as well. So it’s a lot of things that got postponed, so right now we’re just trying to get through this period. I’m using this time to do a lot of writing and to do a lot of research on my next stand-up special because that I can’t actually go out and perform and get it ready, but I am collecting information and getting the idea that I’m ready to tackle, so when it is time to go, I can go.

Naomi K. Bonman: So what is one fun fact that most probably do not know about David A. Arnold?

David A. Arnold: That I used to be a registered nurse and I worked as a nurse for many years while I was pursuing my stand-up comedy. I ran a family practice clinic in Culver city across the street from Sony Studios. I would work all day as a nurse, get off work, go to the comedy club and spend all night at the Comedy Store, the Laugh Factory, [and] Impov, trying to hone my stand-up skills until I got to a place where essentially the stand-up and the writing and producing actually started bringing me more work and took too much time that I had to step away from the nursing. So I served in the military then I worked in the medical field for 10 years after that.

Naomi K. Bonman: Interesting. What advice do you have for aspiring comedians, actors or writers that are striving for their big break?

David A. Arnold: Here’s my advice to anybody who’s striving for anything in the arts: One, it’s supposed to be hard; Two, every single obstacle that you encounter is put in the way for one reason, to weed out the weak and the people who don’t have what it takes to stand in there and keep fighting; And three, as long as you continue to strive to be what your voice is or whatever it is that you want to do, if you write, write; if it’s stand-up, do stand-up; if you act, act…You don’t need to wait for nobody. We live in a time in a world where you can shoot it, write it, and present it yourself. If you’re comedian, you can put stuff out there in the world. If you put something out there and there’s something to it, people will respond. 18 months ago I had 1,800 followers, then I decided to start putting my comedic voice on social media, not I have over 700,000 between Facebook and Instagram in literally less than two years. That’s just from me putting yup what I think is funny and people when they think that it’s funny they’re going to tell other people that this guy or girl is funny and that you should go watch them do whatever it is that they do. So that’s my advice, if you say that you want to do it, just do it. And just know that it’s going to be hard and it’s supposed to be.

Naomi K. Bonman: I love that advice! And how can people follow you?

David A. Arnold: On Instagram, it’s @thedavidaarnold or @davidaarnold across the board on Facebook and Twitter. You’ve got to use that ‘A’, if you put in David A. Arnold, you can find me everywhere. But if you don’t put that ‘A’, you’ll get the soundtrack composer from the James Bond movies. (laughs)

Naomi K. Bonman (laughs): Thank you David! And is there anything else you want to leave the people with?

David A. Arnold: If you haven’t seen Fat Ballerina, go to Netflix and check it out. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and please everybody keep your asses at the house so we can get out of here. The more we stay home and do what they tell us to do for a little while, the sooner we can go back out here in the streets and do what we were doing before.

Naomi K. Bonman: Thank you so much David!

David A. Arnold: I appreciate you1 Looking forward to reading and seeing this. Thank you so much!

Naomi K. Bonman: You’re welcome. Stay safe.

The Justice Department said Monday that federal prosecutors are weighing possible hate crime charges in the slaying of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man gunned down after being pursued by two armed White men in a Georgia subdivision.

Arbery was fatally shot February 23 by a father and son who told police they chased him because they believed he was a burglar. They were arrested last week, more than two months later, on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault after video of the shooting appeared online.

Georgia has no hate crime law

Attorneys for Arbery’s parents and others, including Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and the Southern Poverty Law Center, have asked for a federal investigation. Georgia has no hate crime law allowing charges at the state level.

“We are assessing all of the evidence to determine whether federal hate crimes charges are appropriate,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a statement Monday.

Previously, a Justice Department spokesman had said the FBI is assisting in the investigation and the department would assist if a federal crime is uncovered.

Feds considering investigating local police

Kupec’s statement Monday also said the Justice Department was considering Carr’s request for federal authorities to investigate how local police and prosecutors handled the case. She said Carr has been asked to “forward to federal authorities any information that he has.”

Gregory McMichael, 64, and his 34-year-old son, Travis McMichael, are jailed on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault in Arbery’s slaying. Gregory McMichael is a former Glynn County police officer who later worked 20 years as an investigator for the local district attorney’s office. He retired a year ago.

The father and son told police they thought Arbery matched the appearance of a burglary suspect who they said had been recorded on a surveillance camera some time before, according to the Glynn County police report filed after the shooting.

Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she thinks her 25-year-old son, a former high school football player, was just jogging in the neighborhood before he was killed.

Man who recorded video not charged

Meanwhile, a man identifying himself as the person who recorded the cellphone video of the shooting said he’s received death threats.

William “Roddie” Bryan is identified as a witness in the police report taken after Arbery’s shooting. He appears to be mentioned in a single sentence of the report, which says Gregory McMichael told an officer that “‘Roddy’ attempted to block (Arbery) which was unsuccessful.”

“I had nothing to do with it. I’m trying to get my life back to normal, and it’s been smeared for the last week,” Bryan told WJAX-TV in an interview that aired Monday.

“I was told I was a witness and I’m not sure what I am, other than receiving a bunch of threats.”

Bryan has not been charged in the case. The TV station reported Bryan would not discuss his involvement in the events that led to Arbery’s death.

Outside prosecutors were appointed to handle the case. But the McMichaels weren’t arrested until last week. After video of the shooting leaked online Tuesday, the lead prosecutor on the case asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look into the shooting. The McMichaels were arrested Thursday.

It was not known Monday whether the McMichaels had attorneys to represent them. They had no lawyers at their first court appearance Friday.

The leaked video shows a Black man running at a jogging pace. The truck is stopped in the road ahead of him, with one of the White men standing in the pickup’s bed and the other beside the open driver’s side door.

The running man attempts to pass the pickup on the passenger side, moving just beyond the truck, briefly outside the camera’s view. A gunshot sounds, and the video shows the running man grappling with a man over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle. A second shot can be heard, and the running man can be seen punching the other man. A third shot is fired at point-blank range. The running man staggers a few feet and falls face down.

Publisher’s Commentary by Wallace J Allen IV

It will probably be safe to group and gather at work when City Councils, County Supervisors, School Boards, State Legislatures and Congress members begin meeting face to face. When the Courts open up the courts. When the New York Stock Exchange opens the floor for trading. When the NBA, MLB and NFL team owners meet in the same room to negotiate with their respective Players Union representatives. When the medical and scientific experts are comfortable meeting with the public in person to discuss COVID-19. Until then, please continue to wash your hands, keep your distance, wear a mask, and evolve into the healthy lifestyle that will build your immune system and help you fight off the virus! 

Little Richard, the self-proclaimed “architect of rock ‘n’ roll” whose piercing wail, pounding piano and towering pompadour irrevocably altered popular music while introducing black R&B to white America, died Saturday. He was 87.

Pastor Bill Minson, a close friend of Little Richard’s, told The Associated Press that Little Richard died Saturday morning. His son, Danny Jones Penniman, also confirmed his father’s death, which was first reported by Rolling Stone.

Danny Jones Penniman said his father had cancer.

Born Richard Penniman, Little Richard was one of rock’n’roll’s founding fathers who helped shatter the color line on the music charts, joining Chuck Berry and Fats Domino in bringing what was once called “race music” into the mainstream.

Richard’s hyperkinetic piano playing, coupled with his howling vocals and hairdo, made him an implausible sensation — a gay, black man celebrated across America during the buttoned-down Eisenhower era.

He sold more than 30 million records worldwide, and his influence on other musicians was equally staggering, from the Beatles and Otis Redding to Creedence Clearwater Revival and David Bowie.

Wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom

In his personal life, he wavered between raunch and religion, alternately embracing the Good Book and outrageous behavior and looks – mascara-lined eyes, pencil-thin mustache and glittery suits.

“Little Richard? That’s rock ‘n’ roll,” Neil Young, who heard Richard’s riffs on the radio in Canada, told biographer Jimmy McDonough. “Little Richard was great on every record.”

It was 1956 when his classic “Tutti Frutti” landed like a hand grenade in the Top 40, exploding from radios and off turntables across the country. It was highlighted by Richard’s memorable call of “wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom.”

A string of hits followed, providing the foundation of rock music: “Lucille,” “Keep A Knockin’,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Good Golly Miss Molly.” More than 40 years after the latter charted, Bruce Springsteen was still performing “Good Golly Miss Molly” live.

The Beatles’ Paul McCartney imitated Richard’s signature yelps — perhaps most notably in the “Wooooo!” from the hit “She Loves You.” Ex-bandmate John Lennon covered Richard’s “Rip It Up” and “Ready Teddy” on the 1975 “Rock and Roll” album.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opened in 1986, he was among the charter members with Elvis Presley, Berry, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sam Cooke and others.

“It is with a heavy heart that I ask for prayers for the family of my lifelong friend and fellow rocker Little Richard,” said Lewis, 84, in a statement provided by his publicist.

“He will live on always in my heart with his amazing talent and his friendship! He was one of a kind and I will miss him dearly. God bless his family and fans.”

Few were quicker to acknowledge Little Richard’s seminal role than Richard himself. The flamboyant singer claimed he paved the way for Elvis, provided Mick Jagger with his stage moves and conducted vocal lessons for McCartney.

“I am the architect of rock ‘n’ roll!” Little Richard crowed at the 1988 Grammy Awards as the crowd rose in a standing ovation. “I am the originator!”

One of 12 children in Macon, Ga.

Richard Wayne Penniman was born in Macon, Georgia, during the Great Depression, one of 12 children. He was ostracized because he was effeminate and suffered a small deformity: his right leg was shorter than his left.

The family was religious, and Richard sang in local churches with a group called the Tiny Tots. The tug-of-war between his upbringing and rock ‘n’ roll excess tormented Penniman throughout his career.

Penniman was performing with bands by the age of 14, but there were problems at home over his sexual orientation. His father beat the boy and derided him as “half a son.”

Richard left home to join a minstrel show run by a man known as Sugarloaf Sam, occasionally appearing in drag.

In late 1955, Little Richard recorded the bawdy “Tutti Frutti,” with lyrics that were sanitized by a New Orleans songwriter. It went on to sell 1 million records over the next year.

When Little Richard’s hit was banned by many white-owned radio stations, white performers like Pat Boone and Elvis Presley did cover versions that topped the charts.

Fired Jimi Hendrix

Little Richard went Hollywood with an appearance in “Don’t Knock the Rock.” But his wild lifestyle remained at odds with his faith, and a conflicted Richard quit the business in 1957 to enroll in a theological school and get married.

Richard remained on the charts when his label released previously recorded material. And he recorded a gospel record, returning to his roots.

A 1962 arrest for a sexual encounter with a man in a bus station restroom led to his divorce and return to performing.

He mounted three tours of England between 1962 and 1964, with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones serving as opening acts. Back in the States, he put together a band that included guitarist Jimi Hendrix — and later fired Hendrix when he was late for a bus.

In 1968, Richard hit Las Vegas and relaunched his career. Within two years, he had another hit single and made the cover of Rolling Stone.

Cocaine and recovery

By the mid-1970s, Richard was battling a $1,000-a-day cocaine problem and once again abandoned his musical career. He returned to religion, selling Bibles and renouncing homosexuality. For more than a decade, he vanished.

“If God can save an old homosexual like me, he can save anybody,” Richard said.

But he returned, in 1986, in spectacular fashion. Little Richard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and appeared in the movie “Down and Out in Beverly Hills.”

A Little Richard song from the soundtrack, “Great Gosh A’Mighty,” even put him back on the charts for the first time in more than 15 years.

Little Richard was back to stay, enjoying another dose of celebrity that he fully embraced.

Macon, Georgia, named a street after its favorite son. And Little Richard was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In August 2002, he announced his retirement from live performing. But he continued to appear frequently on television, including a humorous appearance on a 2006 commercial for GEICO insurance.

Richard had hip surgery in November 2009 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, and asked fans at the time to pray for him. He lived in the Nashville area at the time.
_____
Former Associated Press Writer Larry McShane contributed to this report

“L.A. County is continuing its progress on the road to recovery, with planned reopening of beaches for active recreation and an expansion of permitted retail activities coming tomorrow. While the Safer at Home orders will remain in place over the next few months, restrictions will be gradually relaxed under our 5-stage Roadmap to Recovery, while making sure we are keeping our communities as safe as possible during this pandemic,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.

“We are being guided by science and data that will safely move us forward along the road to recovery in a measured way—one that allows us to ensure that effective distancing and infection control measures are in place. We’re counting on the public’s continued compliance with the orders to enable us to relax restrictions, and we are committed to making sure that L.A. County is in the best position to provide its 10 million residents with the highest level of wellness possible as we progressively get back to normal.”

By Lou Yeboah

“Seventy sevens are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place,”  before judgment come to the earth like never before. [Daniel 9:24-27]. Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. “For I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.” [Genesis 6:13; 17]. But, “for my own name’s sake, I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise, I hold it back from you, so as not to destroy you completely. [Isaiah 48:9]. Repent and return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing, for this is the Final Call. [Joel 2:12-13].

“This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: Vision of Locusts- He was preparing a swarm of locusts…, I cried out, Sovereign Lord, forgive, How can [insert your name] stand? [He\she] is so small.” So, the Lord relented. This will not happen,” the Lord said.

“Then the Sovereign Lord showed me:  Vision of Fire- The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you stop! How can [insert your name] stand? [He/she] is so small.” So the Lord relented. “This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.

“Then, He showed me:  Vision of the Plumb Line- The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb-line in His hand. And the Lord asked me, “What do you see…? “A plumb-line,” I replied. Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb-line among my people…; I will spare them no longer…  [Amos 7: 1-9].

The passage message. God bears long, but he will not bear always with a provoking people. If God’s word and his warnings are not heeded, then God will judge and punish without any reprieve.

You see, ever since the Great Flood in [Genesis 7], God has given mankind invitation after invitation to escape the Final Judgment. First it was through the Old Testament prophets—but the world didn’t listen. Next it was through the words of Jesus Christ—but the world still didn’t listen. Finally, it was through the Apostle John’s vision in Revelation.

The question is: Are you listening? God’s grace is for a limited time, not forever. God always gives Grace for a period as he did in the days of Noah. In that day he gave a period of 120 years for people to repent their ways.  After that Grace period ended, God visited his judgment upon the people of the earth through the flood during which everything perished except Noah and his family of eight persons.  Where was God’s Grace when the floods came and all the people died? God’s grace had ended.  “And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.” [Genesis 6:3].

In Judah, God sent Jeremiah to preach for about 30 years to the people of Israel to repent until the Babylonian captivity.  When Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem in 598 BC hundreds of thousands of people of God’s chosen nation were destroyed and the rest that were not killed was taken faraway into captivity in Babylon.  Where was the Grace of God during the time? It had expired.

In 70 AD almost 30 years after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, the Jewish nation still refused to accept that Jesus was truly the Son of God after the preaching of His disciples.  In 70 AD Rome attacked Jerusalem and destroyed the City and Temple the second time and killed over 1 million of God’s chosen people. Where was the Grace of God at the time?? It had expired.

If God didn’t spare His own people from His wrath due to their unbelief, unrepentant heart and turning back to Him, what will happen to us when the Grace period expires? Jesus Christ himself declared, there is coming a time of trouble such as there has never been since there was a nation on earth according to Matthew 24.

God’s grace will soon expire. [Revelation 14].  Let us learn a lesson from the fig tree.

“…And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hearth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” [Revelation 22:13-17].

Humble Beginnings

By his own admission, Gerald D. Thomas attended one of the toughest high schools on the Westside of Chicago, a neighborhood that has infamously been awarded the title of the “most dangerous neighborhood” in the US on more than one occasion. His cousin, who worked for the high school, convinced Gerald to attend so that he could be a “beacon of light” to his soon to be peers. Gerald was just that. From honor and AP classes to becoming senior class president, Gerald was the light his cousin aspired for him to be.

It wasn’t easy though. “I have had friends who have been killed. I’ve had to come home in the middle of gun crossfire. I’ve seen all of the violence, but I wasn’t going to let that shape my narrative.”

In 2007, during a college recruitment event at his high school, Gerald was introduced to Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough, then president of Philander Smith College, a private Historically Black College & University (HBCU) located in Little Rock, Ark. He offered Gerald a scholarship on the spot, opening a door that would soon lead Gerald down a path of success.

After excelling in high school against all odds in academics, he graduated as the school’s first UNCF scholar in 2008 with more than $100,000 in scholarship offers, but, ultimately, he chose to attend Philander Smith on a full scholarship.

The Launch

During his time at Philander Smith College, Gerald let his light shine even brighter, interning at The Source magazine, launching his career in entertainment.

After graduating college in the Summer of 2012, Gerald did missionary work with the General Board of Global Ministries in the Philippines and New Orleans. Using his background in entertainment and his passion for empowering minority youth, It was here that he worked with inner city schools and the Fountain of Youth to help produce a documentary film shown during the ESSENCE Fest. This experience lit a fire in him and was the beginning of a lifelong passion for helping to better the lives of others.

In the Fall of 2012, Gerald moved to Los Angeles and began freelancing for PR agencies and entertainment powerhouses like BET.

If you know Gerald, you know that he enjoys the finer things in life, but as his career in entertainment PR was going at light speed, he realized that he wanted to do more meaningful work. “I wanted to incorporate service and advocacy through everything that I did, even the entertainment and lifestyle events that I produced.

A Deeper Responsibility

Recounting his time at Philander Smith College, Gerald felt a deeper responsibility to cling to the school’s mission of graduating “academically accomplished students, grounded as advocates for social justice, determined to change the world for the better.”

“Even though a scholarship is what brought me here, I would have been doing myself a disservice if I didn’t take heed to what was right in front of me all along.”

At age 25, Gerald took on this responsibility, and decided to focus more on social justice and step away from the red carpet lifestyle he had come to know and love. “It wasn’t the only thing I wanted to do with my life, I wanted a deeper sense of purpose.”

From there, Gerald returned to Little Rock to work with organizations that had strong foundations in impacting the lives of children and underprivileged minorities through the arts, education and technology. Gerald has produced and assisted in the production of benefit fashion shows through his namesake PR firm, The GDT PR Agency, and Designer’s Choice Fashion Preview (DCFP) presented by the Timmons Arts Foundation.

Gerald was determined to create new avenues for nonprofits and organizations in the community.

Forging New Ground

In 2019, Gerald joined Centers for Youth and Family as an Emerging Leader. The mission of Centers for Youth & Families is to provide specialized prevention, intervention and treatment services that promote emotional and social wellness for children and families in Arkansas.

“The programming was pretty boring and dated,” he says. With the vast majority of its stakeholders being elderly and white, Gerald saw an opportunity to introduce their work to an untapped resource… millennials. Gerald didn’t just want to be another token Black guy so that the organization could just check a box… he wanted to be an instrumental piece of the puzzle in helping to attract this new audience.

In April of 2019, Gerald led a brainstorming session goaled at coming up with new ways the Emerging Leaders would help raise money and better engage millennials. The group of four met continuously and originally concepted the idea of a coupon book… but what happened next was groundbreaking.

Bottomless Brunch

The coupon book evolved into BrunchFest… an interactive event celebrating the area’s best brunch food, good vibes and, of course, bottomless drinks. One hundred percent of the event’s proceeds would

Nearly 40 restaurants provided food for 500 guests, with no cost to Centers for Youth & Families. With unlimited food, beer, tequila and mimosas, the event raised more than $30,000 in its inaugural year.

This event and others like it are the epitome of Gerald’s new direction in life. Marrying entertainment and social advocacy; forging new paths to raising awareness to some of the world’s most pressing issues.

What’s Next

While Gerald’s ultimate goal is to work for an entertainment company’s philanthropic foundation, he is still very active in his local community and committed to bringing fresh ideas to Arkansans across the state.

“Arkansas has so much untapped potential and I want everyone here to realize that we have all of the needed resources to stack up against ‘more notable’ cities across the US,” says Gerald.

Looking at Gerald’s rocket-fueled career trajectory, one can only imagine what his next move will be. Stay on the lookout for what’s to come.

Facing indifference from Governor Newsom, advocates race against time to save the lives of incarcerated people in CA state prisons 

SAN PEDRO, CA––Newsweek reports that more than a third of federally incarcerated people with coronavirus are now in one institution, Terminal Island Prison in Southern California. 

The Federal Board of Prisons (BOP) recorded a staggering 900% increase in coronaviruses cases this week. Criminal justice advocates have pummeled state authorities with unprecedented campaigns for mass releases since early March, warning that California’s state prison system and any adjacent communities are only weeks away from widespread, deadly COVID-19 outbreaks if urgent action is not taken to reduce prison populations. 

“Governor Newsom has done virtually nothing to protect the 118,000 people serving sentences in California prisons and the 37,000 people who work there,” said Amber-Rose Howard, Executive Director of Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), a grassroots coalition of more than 80 organizations demanding the release of incarcerated people from prisons, jails and detention centers in the interest of public health. “It’s shocking to watch this preventable tragedy unfold,” said Ms. Howard. “By not authorizing vast clemencies and releases, our governor is allowing Californinas to face the deepest devastation during this pandemic. The right thing to do is so clear.”

Activists from California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP), a CURB member organization, say they are in a race against time to prevent widespread illness and death for the most vulnerable prison populations. The group launched a new website this morning––CareNotCages.com––to support elderly and at-risk people in women’s prisons who are petitioning the Governor Newsom for clemency and immediate release. The first three women to appear on the site––Lucia Bravo, 82; Patricia Wright, 68; and Maria Aredondo, 67––all have been diagnosed with cancer. 

“It’s heartbreaking. These women present no risk to public safety. They’ve all been in prison more than 20 years. Two are grandmothers,” said Romarilyn Ralston, Project Director at Project Rebound and an advocate with CCWP. “They belong at home with their families, who are willing to care for them.” 

Governor Newsom received hundreds of applications for commutation months ago, including the womens’ applications, but has yet to respond. 

California is ready to partially reopen major sectors of its economy as early as this Friday, including retail shops and the manufacturers that supply them, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday. 

Clothing outlets, bookstores, florists and other merchants across the state will be allowed to offer curbside pickup as long as they obey physical distancing guidelines meant to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. California companies that make clothing, furniture, toys, and other goods those retailers sell can also resume operations, with appropriate worker protections. 

“This is an optimistic day as we see a little ray of sunshine on the horizon,” said Newsom. 

While more details on which specific industries would be allowed to reopen won’t be available until Thursday, Newsom’s announcement marks the first major relaxing of the statewide shelter-in-place order he issued March 19 and the first time the governor has offered a specific date by which California can enter the second stage of the administration’s four-stage recovery plan.

CA is led by data and SCIENCE.

Based off our progress, we’ll begin to gradually move into Stage 2 this FRIDAY.

Some sectors where there’s a lower risk of transmission will be able to adapt & re-open with modifications.

This will include some retail and manufacturing/logistics.

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) May 4, 2020

With COVID-19 hospitalization rates stabilizing, testing capacity improving and a sufficient inventory of personal protective equipment, Newsom said the state can begin the delicate dance of reopening its battered economy while trying to prevent a second major wave of infections. 

In a nod to growing pleas from more rural parts of the state less affected by the virus, Newsom’s plan allows individual counties to reopen restaurants and offices if local public health officials certify those plans as safe. But the governor cautioned the state would intervene if it suspected community transmission of the virus was reaching dangerous levels, referencing an unspecified “trigger” that would prompt state action. 

“To the extent that we start to see community spread, that we start to see that the certification and the commitments they made at the local level aren’t manifesting and they weren’t able to hold up…then the state can once again intervene,” he Newsom.

Counties could also opt to maintain stricter shelter-in-place orders than those proposed by the state, Newsom said, indicating some Bay Area counties may consider that approach. 

While picking up T-shirts outside an Old Navy or paperbacks outside a local bookseller may provide some Californians with a sliver of pre-pandemic normalcy, wide swaths of the day-to-day life will remain shuttered even under the updated shelter-in-place order, including gyms, hair salons, and movie theaters. Newsom did not indicate when he believed those enterprises, slated for “Stage 3” of the state’s plan, may reopen. 

And malls are specifically excluded from the kinds of retail businesses that would be allowed to start welcoming customers beginning Friday.

Yuba, Sutter and Modoc counties, all in relatively sparsely populated regions of the state, have already allowed the reopening of private gyms and some other businesses still not approved by the state. Newsom declined to answer whether he was planning to punish counties that moved too fast than the administration preferred. 

Key to the administration’s confidence it could reopen parts of California safely was a new initiative to create an “army” of coronavirus contact tracers–public health workers tasked with tracking down people exposed to the virus so they can safely self-isolate and prevent the disease from spreading. 

Newsom said a partnership with UCLA and UCSF will allow for online training of 3,000 new tracers a week, starting Wednesday, that will work for local public health agencies. Those workers will initially come from a pool of local and state government workers. 

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.