Chicago’s summer of unrest because of strained relations between the police and minorities continued unabated this past weekend, with protesters clashing with authorities and police releasing videos of those who looted high-end stores in the city’s core earlier in the week.
The latest dust-up took place near downtown Saturday, when clashes broke out between marchers (some of whom had donned rain ponchos to identify each other and used umbrellas to help conceal their actions) and police.
A melee between those two groups broke out in the late afternoon, and it included one officer being repeatedly hit on the head with a skateboard. Subsequently arrested in connection with that incident was Jeremey Johnson, 25, from the Lake View neighborhood, who was charged with aggravated battery of a peace officer.
The Chicago Police Department said on Twitter the officer was wearing a protective helmet and only sustained minor injuries. He was treated at a nearby hospital.
Police said they also arrested three others in connection with the protest: Nicoline Arlet, 24, was charged with a felony count of theft after she allegedly ripped a body camera off a cop during the protest; 18-year-old Elena Chamorro was charged with a felony count of aggravated battery to a peace officer and one misdemeanor count of mob action; and Shaundric Mann, 24, for hitting a cop in the face with a bullhorn while resisting arrest. The department said that another officer suffered a wrist injury while taking Mann into custody.
Crowd of protesters in Chicago. (Newsflash)
Meantime, the department has also released more images of those looting shops in the early hours of Aug. 10, asking for the public’s help in identifying them. Police say hundreds of looters responded to social-media calls to descend on the city’s upscale Magnificent Mile and other shopping areas in the city’s downtown in the aftermath of police shooting a man that authorities said fired on them first.
The footage released by the police involved these locations:
The Hermès Chicago store at 25 E. Oak St., where up to 20 people can be seen stealing goods.
A UPS store on 1953 N. Clybourn Ave., which showed six looters.
An unnamed store in the 800 block of West North Avenue, which shows one robber.
Allegations of police brutality and excessive force like those being voiced in Chicago have been in the media spotlight since a black man, George Floyd, died at the hands of police in Minneapolis in May. Floyd’s death and the subsequent ascendance of the Black Lives Matter movement have sparked protests across the United States and elsewhere.
By Hardy Brown | Special to California Black Media
U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, the first Black woman to serve on a major party’s presidential ticket made history last week when Joe Biden, the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee, announced that she would serve as his running mate. While much of the national and local news centered around the selection of Senator Harris, California political insiders were having a different conversation. Almost immediately after Biden’s announcement, the politicos in the Golden State began formulating predictions on who Gov. Gavin Newsom would select to serve the balance of Senator Harris’s term in the U.S. Senate, which ends in January 2023.
The opportunity to see the celebrated rise of a member of another ethnic minority, whether it be the Latino community, API community, or other group, should not come at the expense of California’s Black community.
Political insiders in Sacramento report that Newsom is already being pressured by outside groups to make history by appointing a Latino to replace Harris. With close to 40% or more of the state population being Latino, the governor will be under pressure to deliver to such a large constituency. However, according to some capital insiders and news reports, discussions have already been had with the governor to appoint California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to the U.S. Senate, should Sen. Dianne Feinstein decide to retire before her term ends in 2024.
Black women and men have poured decades of work, blood, sweat, tears and sacrifice into the Democratic Party, and Gov. Newsom must recognize that. Black voters are not the Democratic Party’s mules; they should not have to put the histories of other groups’ oppression on their backs and step aside so someone else can walk through the political door that Senator Harris has opened. To prevent what would be a consequential snub, the Governor should be intentional about acknowledging the important role that Black people have in California politics, and the trail that has been blazed by Kamala Harris, by choosing among California’s Black elected officials to replace her in the U.S. Senate. Fortunately, California has an impressive list for the Governor to consider:
Congressional Members
Congresswoman Barbara Lee. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA-13), former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus, was an early supporter of Gov. Newsom and is beloved by her Bay Area constituency. Though she is in her 13th term as a Congresswoman and may not want to give up the seniority she’s earned in the House, Lee would garner support from progressives and African Americans statewide, and be a force in the U.S. Senate.
Congresswoman Karen Bass. It is likely that Governor Newsom has already added Representative Karen Bass (D-CA-37) to his shortlist of candidates to fill Senator Harris’s seat. A 10-year veteran in the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Bass, the current Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and former Speaker of the California Assembly, possesses both the leadership skills and the acumen to serve in the U.S. Senate in this historic moment.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Affectionately called “Auntie Maxine” by fans from all backgrounds and ages, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA-43) has been a member of the U.S. Congress for almost 30 years. She is both loved and loathed for her no-nonsense, in-your-face politicking and sharp criticism of political opponents, including Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump. The eldest of the 12 Black women currently serving in Congress, Waters, 82, may not be at the top of the governor’s shortlist. Her experience, though, serving 14 years in the California Assembly before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she is the current chair of the House Financial Services Committee, certainly qualifies her.
Constitutional Officers
Superintendent Tony Thurmond. Tony Thurmond became California’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction after successfully defeating a well-funded opponent statewide. Prior to this position, he served as a state Assemblymember, a member of the Richmond City Council and a member of the West Contra Costa County Unified School District. Superintendent Thurmond has enjoyed national attention in the wake of COVID-19 with innovative plans to initiate distance learning and to reopen public schools.
Board of Equalization Member Malia Cohen. Board Member Malia Cohen, a native of the vote-rich Bay Area, is no stranger to Gov. Newsom and is a tested and proven viable statewide vote getter, having garnered 72 percent of the vote in her 23-county Board of Equalization District, representing over 10 million Californians. She was elected the first Black woman to Chair the BOE, which administers the $70 billion property tax system. Prior to her election to Constitutional Office, BOE Chair Cohen served two terms on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and as President of the Board.
State Legislators
State Senator Holly Mitchell. Senator Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angles), who serves as the Chair of the California State Senate Budget Committee, is one of the most well respected, and powerful policy makers in California. Senator Mitchell has developed a close working relationship with Gov. Newsom which has served the state well. They have pursued policies that align with their respective agendas on homelessness, criminal justice reform, early childhood development, etc.
Assemblymember Shirley Weber. Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D-Sam Diego) serves as the Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus. She is one of the most effective and respected policymakers serving in the California legislature. She passed landmark legislation establishing a new reasonable force standard in the wake of the death of Stephon Clark by Sacramento law enforcement officers. This year she championed the Assembly Constitutional Amendment 5, which placed on the November ballot Proposition16. If voters approve, Prop 16 would overturn anti-affirmative action Proposition 209, which passed in 1996.
Local Elected Officials
City Council Member Herb Wesson. Los Angeles city council member Herb Wesson is former speaker of the state assembly, former president of the Los Angeles City council and is currently a candidate for Los Angeles County supervisor. He is well known around the state and is widely regarded as a persuasive and effective deal maker.
Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas is one of the most effective policymakers in the state of California. Ridley-Thomas previously served in both the California State Assembly and the California Senate, and served as the Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus. He was a strong supporter of Gavin Newsom in his race to become Governor, and Ridley-Thomas has worked closely with the governor to address homelessness in Los Angeles County and statewide.
Mayor London Breed. Mayor London Breed, the first African American woman to serve as Mayor of San Francisco, made a splash on the national political stage this year because of her pro-active response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to serving as Mayor of San Francisco, Breed served as the President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Breed, who was appointed to the San Francisco Fire Commission by then-Mayor Gavin Newsom, enjoys a close working relationship with the governor and has the experience of running a major metropolitan city.
When coming up with this list, I did a poll check and talked to both young and older veterans in the political space.
Chaya Crowder, an African American Political Science Professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, said, “Black women continue to be the most loyal voting block within the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party cannot continue to rely on Black women as voters without having Black women in represented in elected office.”
Danny Bakewell, publisher of the Los Angeles Sentinel and producer of the largest Black festival in California, ‘Taste of Soul,’ said, “at a time that we say Black lives matter, Black people must be considered for this and other positions.
Gov. Newsom has been confronted with a plethora of difficult decisions in 2020, ranging from the management of COVID-19 to balancing a budget in the middle of a severe recession. After the general election, if the Democrats win, the Governor would be charged with an equally important decision — who to choose to serve out the remaining two-and-a-half years of Senator Harris’s term. Our advice to the Governor is to be thoughtful in his deliberations and understand that his decision will speak very loudly to Black communities throughout California and the nation.
Black Lives Matter, they say. His life mattered, they say, until a police officer decided it didn’t. They say.
Minneapolis is the latest U.S. city whose threads are fraying and burning over race relations. Protesters see video footage of George Floyd, accused of forging a check, his neck trapped under police officer Derek Chauvin’s knee, pleading for his life as he labored to breathe. Breathing his last.
Two nights after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the city began to burn. A lone firefighter stared into a sea of blaze on May 27, 2020. (Chris Juhn/Zenger)
Thousands hit the streets—peaceful at first, even polite. A makeshift memorial attracted balloons and roses. The police chief fired four cops and the mayor demanded criminal prosecutions, but justice is a slow drip and Molotov cocktails create loud, roaring fires.
“Good cops are dead cops,” one vandal spray-painted not far from where paramedics found Floyd unconscious.
It wasn’t the first time a white cop killed a black suspect, and it won’t be the last.
This is how black Americans caught in the middle live now. Worrying and working to protect their spouses, their children, their neighbors’ children. And furious that they have to.
The name Trayvon Martin launched a protest movement seven years ago, and more names would follow.
Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Freddie Gray, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Stephon Clark, Botham Jean, Cameron Lamb, Terence Crutcher, Laquan McDonald.
Those are just a few whose deaths fit neatly enough into quiet weeks or weekends to become news. There are more.
Arson doesn’t always follow, nor looters urging city-dwellers to “be the virus.” More shootings aren’t guaranteed amid chaos, nor innovative ways of cracking open ATMs to harvest what’s inside.
Two wrongs don’t make a right. But the color of a man’s skin shouldn’t matter either, they say.
About 1 in 1,000 black men and boys in America can expect to be killed by someone wearing a badge, according to Northwestern University research.
White men have it decidedly better. As usual, they say. And not just in Minneapolis.
It’s the same in New York and Cleveland and Charleston and Baltimore and Baton Rouge and Sacramento and Dallas and Kansas City and Tulsa and Chicago and in Ferguson, Missouri.
Our TV sets, mobile phones and car radios tell us, often, that something is wrong. Red-orange flames say some of us are angry beyond words.
Some. But we’re all here. We all hear. And then we don’t again.
Enraged and tired and numb is the way we live now.
A protester outside the 3rd precinct in Minneapolis raised his middle fingers at the police and said “Fuck you” on May 26, 2020 His shirt’s message, “Black Lives Matter,” has become a rallying cry for activists combating police brutality against African Americans. (Chris Juhn/Zenger)
Protesters gathered May 27 in front of Cup Foods in Minneapolis while they listened to speakers talk about the life of George Floyd, who died the day before during his arrest. (Chris Juhn/Zenger)
Protesters marched down Hiawatha Avenue in Minneapolis on Wednesday to protest Floyd’s killing by a 19-year police veteran who pinned his neck to the pavement with his knee. (Chris Juhn/Zenger)
A protester (left) vandalized a police squad car in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020 as others (at right) yelled for her to stop. Demonstrations turned violent behind the Minneapolis 3rd Police Precinct. (Chris Juhn/Zenger)
A protester stands defiantly with her fist in the air as police walk by her on May 26, 2020 in Minneapolis. (Chris Juhn/Zenger)
Police made tear gas canisters rain down on protesters in Minneapolis outside a Target store. The same store was the site of arson and looting 24 hours later. (Chris Juhn/Zenger)
“Be the virus” demands graffiti on an empty storefront window in Minneapolis on May 27, 2020. Protesters have complained about police firing tear gas into riots during a pandemic that also attacks the lungs. (Chris Juhn/Zenger)
An ATM was forced open and destroyed by looters at the US Bank location near Lake Street and Hiawatha in Minneapolis in the early morning hours of May 28, 2020. (Chris Juhn/Zenger)
Near the destroyed ATM, the US Bank sign was spray-painted by a vandal who wrote: “Good cops are dead cops.” (Chris Juhn/Zenger)
Standing and sitting on top of a car, two people share a beer and watch as a 190-unit affordable housing complex under construction burns to the ground after midnight on May 28, 2020. (Chris Juhn/Zenger)
Almost completed, the housing complex burned to ash along with a Wendy’s restaurant, while protesters watched. (Chris Juhn/Zenger)
Rebellion against authority has been a big feature of governance and society in America since it’s early days. Rebellion against the authority of the King of England over the control of England’s 13 colonies in North America lead to the Revolutionary War; the independence of the people and government of the United States of America; The U.S. Constitution; and the “Bill of Rights”.
But among the number of issues NOT effectively resolved by “the Revolution”, “the Constitution”, or “the Bill of Rights”, was the “peculiar institution” of slavery in the U.S. as the country grew and evolved, and conflicts emerged over who had the “right” and power to decide outcomes.
The issue opened with whether the “Federal government” or the individual state (in collection with like-minded individual states) was the decision-maker. This opinion was more widely shared in the mainly agricultural sections of the country known as ‘the South’, as distinguished from the increasingly mercantile ‘North’. In many areas of the South there were many more enslaved Black people than there were Whites, who feared revolts and retribution.
To Southern officials, the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 was taken as a rejection and a sign that the South HAD to go its own way. Southern states withdrew ‘membership’ in the United States; established its ‘own’ Army and Navy; (almost ALL had been ‘regulars ‘ of the United States); and eventually fired another ‘shot heard around the world’. War again became THE instrument for ‘problem-solving’!
In September 1862, in the middle of America’s horrendously bloody Civil War (referred to in ‘the South’ as “the war between the states”) President Lincoln issued a Presidential Order, under his authority, during wartime, to go into effect on January 1, 1863, as an “Emancipation Proclamation”, which ordered that “ALL PERSONS HELD AS SLAVES ” WITHIN THE REBELLIOUS STATES “ARE AND HENCEFORTH SHALL BE FREE !…” Furthermore, Lincoln pointedly directed the military to fully and faithfully effect this order.
As the Civil War was going on, the Emancipation Proclamation and Lincoln’s authority was disregarded by the Confederate South, which greatly depended on slavery to support its economy, and for the labor support for its Army; however, the Emancipation Proclamation helped turn the tide of the war. Every advance of the Union Army expanded the areas of freedom and great numbers of newly-freed men enlisted into the U.S. Army, & Navy. By the time the Civil War ended, almost 200,000 Black men fought for the Union AND for freedom!
Still, until the end of the war and the presence of Union troops, the Emancipation Proclamation had no liberating effect in many areas. Only after the surrender of the Confederacy and the arrival of Union General, Granger, with 2,000 Federal troops into Galveston, Texas, on June 18 and 19, 1865, did the dream of FREEDOM become real.
Riverside’s 11th Annual Juneteenth Celebration had many similarities with Southern celebrations in the years following emancipation. Inside the Stratton Center at Bordwell Park there were speakers, displays and reading material about African American inventors, educators, performers and organizations whose work benefitted society. Most people however, preferred to be outside where there was food, music, dancing, performances, and gatherings of families and friends enjoying their freedom to celebrate. ‘Twas a bright, sunny “Juneteenth” day.
Where are ‘we’ now? 2020, Pandemic? “United? States” Governance? Laws & “Justice”?
Senate Republicans, by rejecting the Congressional COVID-19 Stimulus Plan, are encouraging COVID-19, suppressing the economy, suppressing the vote and promoting chaos! Cashless renters are facing eviction… Cashless mini-landlords and cashless homeowners are threatened with foreclosure! Small and large businesses are closing because they have no consumers!
The Republican leadership is obviously willing to kill urban dwelling minorities and Democrats! The red state governors proved that with their “no mask- crowds welcome- get back to work” policies utilized in their urban area! This opinion was declared ridiculous when I first suggested it in March… Now the term “killer republicans” has a hat-rack!
The fact that the COVID-19 stimulus, if delivered, will also benefit poor and middle class Republican voters, is either invisible to or ignored by Senate Republicans! It appears that Senate Republicans are mean-spirited enough to sacrifice poor and middle class republican voters along with minorities and Democrats! They are willing to do it all in order to maintain their racist, inequitable, self-serving, freedom eroding power.
People are dying daily from the virus and yet, Republican leaders are still sending mixed messages regarding COVID-19 policy… Their lack of action on the stimulus plan will definitely suppress the small business economy! It will cause evictions which will disproportionately affect minorities and poor people… Evictions and foreclosures will cause address changes, which can void voter registrations and suppress votes!
Walk together children, and don’t you get weary! There is a long hot road ahead!
Echoing what’s become a slogan for Black Lives Matter protesters, a stocky security guard yelled “I can’t breathe” as he was tasered seven times during his arrest earlier this summer, resulting in his death.
George Zapantis, a 29-year-old security guard with a history of mental illness from Queens, was killed after a five-minute struggle with police on June 21. The New York Police Department has now posted a new, three-hour video showing Zapantis’ cries during his arrest. In the footage, the suspect is seen at the door of his home before growing angry and attacking police. The mass of bodies bring him to the ground as his shouts turn to squeals, and then silence.
He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital; results of an autopsy are still pending.
George Vomvolakis, an attorney representing Zapantis’ family, called the video’s release “an opportunity for the public to see with their own eyes the excessive force.”
“It doesn’t take a trained professional to realize that six people on top of somebody and tasering them repeatedly could potentially kill them,” Vomvolakis said.
THE INCIDENT
Police responded to Zapantis’ home in Queens, which he shared with his mother and sister, following a call from a neighbor. The complaint said the security guard had approached their 25-year-old son carrying a sword.
After knocking on the door, Zapantis appeared through the glass panes wearing a gladiator outfit, which included a shield and a “sword attached to his left waist,” according to police. He later reappeared at the door without the sword and helmet, moments before he charged officers shouting expletives.
George Zapantis arguing with the police officers. (Real Press)
However, the victim makes it clear in the video he is unarmed. He was reportedly tasered the first time when he barged through the screen door to apparently attack officers. While trying to detain the man, during which officers repeatedly shouted at Zapantis to stop struggling and to put his hands behind his back, the officers question whether he is OK after being tasered seven times.
“Does he have a pulse,” asked one officer.
“He’s breathing, right,” said another.
POLICE RESPONSE
A spokesperson for the NYPD says the matter is still under investigation by the department’s Force Investigation Division. “We do not draw any conclusions about whether an officer’s actions were consistent with department policy and the law until all the facts are known,” said NYPD spokesperson Carlos Nieves.
Physical confrontation between George Zapantis and police officers. (Real Press)
Three officers were identified as firing their tasers a total of six times. A fourth officer fired a colleague’s taser in “drive stun” mode—a setting intended to immobilize someone by causing pain.
Police brutality and excessive force have been in the media spotlight since George Floyd died at the hands of police in Minneapolis over Memorial Day weekend. The death of Floyd, who also told the officers arresting him that he could not breathe, sparked protests across the United States and elsewhere.
The phrase first gained notoriety following the 2014 death of Eric Garner, who said it while held by New York City police officer Daniel Pantaleo in a chokehold prohibited by the department. Pantaleo was not indicted in Garner’s death but was fired by the department in 2019.
Overall, American police kill citizens at a much higher rate than in other wealthy nations. Specifically, in the U.S., police kill 33.5 people per 10 million people, which is more than three times higher than the second-most measured country, Canada, at 9.8, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.
(Edited by Stephen Thomas Gugliociello and Matthew Hall.)
.WASHINGTON, D.C. — Is the fourth time the charm? Sen. Kamala Harris isn’t the first woman to be chosen for a vice presidential slot by a major political party. She’s the fourth. Each of those women received initial press and public support; all lost. Sen. Harris has a lot of history to overcome.
Though women make up a majority of registered voters, the record of female vice-presidential hopefuls isn’t mixed or encouraging. One lost her home state. None carried the majority of the women’s vote. None delivered a swing state for the top of the ticket. None produced a bump in the polls that lasted for more than one week.
Democrat Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman nominated for vice president by a major political party, ran alongside Walter Mondale in the 1984 presidential election. They lost the majority of voting women and the majority of voting Roman Catholics (Ferraro was Catholic). They lost Ferraro’s home state of New York and nearly lost her home town of Queens.
Republican Ronald Reagan carried 49 states that year. Only Minnesota went for the Democratic Party’s national candidates—and by fewer than 3,000 votes.
Republican Sarah Palin, in her bid for the vice presidency in 2008, hardly did much better than Ferraro. Barack Obama and his vice presidential nominee Joe Biden carried women voters by 14 percentage points over John McCain and Palin, the first woman Republicans chose for that post.
Palin won her home state, Alaska, which had voted reliably for Republicans in presidential contests since it was admitted to the union in 1959.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz named California businesswoman Carly Fiorina as his running mate while he fought Donald Trump for convention delegates in 2016. That late effort failed to secure him the Republican nomination or even the majority of women GOP delegates.
I’ve known Senator @KamalaHarris for a long time. She is more than prepared for the job. She’s spent her career defending our Constitution and fighting for folks who need a fair shake. This is a good day for our country. Now let’s go win this thing. pic.twitter.com/duJhFhWp6g
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 11, 2020
Examining U.S. election data from 1952 to 2016, Devine said, does not show any change in women’s turnout or voting preferences in the years with a female running mate, 1984 and 2008, compared to other presidential election-years.
Based on historical data, Sen. Harris may help Biden with women voters, but “not dramatically,” Devine said. “We find there’s no evidence that women became more likely to vote for a presidential ticket following the choice of a woman running mate.”
None of the prior defeats of women vice-presidential candidates tell us much about the 2020 presidential race, said University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato. “In 1984, any nominee for president or vice president would have lost—a Democratic nominee—to Ronald Reagan. Conditions were perfect for Reagan’s reelection.”
Economics matters more than female running mates, Sabato said. “In 2008, John McCain was running as the Republican nominee in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression, plus the Iraq War. It’s very hard to make the case that a Republican could have won under those conditions. It had nothing to do with Geraldine Ferraro or Sarah Palin.”
Still the Harris nomination marks a turning point, Sabato said. “I don’t think the Democrats will ever again nominate two white males,” he said. “That era is gone.”
The first woman to seriously contend for a nomination for national office was New York Democratic Rep. Shirley Chisholm, America’s first black congresswoman. She challenged Sen. George McGovern for the Democratic nomination in 1972, receiving enthusiastic support from some parts of the press.
Ultimately she failed to win a single primary. But party rules allowed her to win more than 150 votes from delegates at the Democratic National Convention that year.
Like Sen. Harris, Rep. Chisholm’s candidacy was said to signal a new era. Chisholm’s announcement of her candidacy included these lines often cited by historians: “I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women’s movement of this country, although I am a woman and equally proud of that. I am the candidate of the people and my presence before you symbolizes a new era in American political history.”
“And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, Woe, Woe, to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! [Revelation 8:13]. One more trumpet blast will sound. One more final woe is coming upon the earth. Repent NOW before there will be no more time to repent!
Listen, God sends warnings and redemptive judgments so that we will change our course. If His warnings are ignored and His redemptive judgments do not produce repentance and reformation, God will send a destroyer to destroy the unrepentant. If the situation is not redeemable, God will send totally destructive judgments. Do not bring harm to yourself [Jeremiah 25:4-5]. Repent NOW before there will be no more time to repent! If you do not, thus saith the Lord: ‘Because you have not listened to my words, I will summon all the peoples of the north…, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy [you] and make [you] an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. I will banish from [you] the sounds of joy and gladness, the voice of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. This whole country will become a desolate wasteland…” [Jeremiah 25: 8-11].
Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand! Repent, Repent, Repent! For as I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked: but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn! Turn from your evil ways. For why should you die? [Ezekiel 33:11]. Judgment is about to come to the earth like never before. The storm is about to break in all of its fury. Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. [Luke 13:3]. You see, the “Third Woe” involves the seven last plagues [Revelation 16]. I tell you, a prudent man sees danger and takes refuge… the simple keep going and suffer for it.” [Proverbs 22:3]. Repent while there is still time! “Come out of her, lest you share in her sins, and receive of her plagues.” [Rev.18:4]. “For He swore by him who lives forever and, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, “There will be NO MORE DELAY!” [Rev.10:6]. Turn away from your sin and turn to God NOW. Desire to have nothing to do with sin! “…God is not wishing that [you] should perish, but that [you] should reach repentance.” [2Peter 3:9]. I tell you, the “Third Woe” is coming soon! Repent NOW before there will be no more time to repent!
Childhood disability initiated career path of helping people through medicine
By Timothy Cox –
BALTIMORE, MD — As the youngest of three children born to Army 2nd Lt. Calvin Smith and Betty Cross (Stratton) Smith, Sheldon Stewart Smith, aka “BuBu”who now goes by Dr. Ahmses SaRa Maat, grew up aspiring to become a military hero, much like his father, who was a WWII veteran in the African American flying regiment known as the Tuskegee Airmen.
During the early 1990s, while living in Morrow, Ga., Dr. Maat spent quality time as a respiratory therapist at Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital, one of the world’s leading Level 1 emergency trauma centers. “I certainly relish my developmental years while at Grady,” said Dr. Maat.
Childhood disability empowered and unknowingly helped steer his career path
At age 61, Dr. Maat now lives in Desert Sun, California. He often reflects on how growing up with chronic asthma impacted his life as a teen and young adult, trying to avoid peer pressure.
“It was tough because kids can be mean. Along with the asthma, I also suffered skin rashes. I’d get teased by the boys, but even worse – my girlfriends would shy away, once the skin disorder took effect,” he sadly recalls. I can recall lying in bed praying to God for the ability to just breathe normally like everyone else.”
Living with asthma as a child, not only hindered Dr. Maat’s aspirations for early athletic prowess, but after high school graduation, a failed military physical exam, likewise stopped his chances to volunteer for the Air Force in efforts to follow his dad’s and older brother’s military careers. His older brother, Newt Smith II, is a retired Air Force officer. In May of 2018, a former Veterans park in Beaver Falls, Pa., was officially re-named the Lt. Calvin Smith Tuskegee Airman Veterans Park.
Void of clear-cut career-goals after graduating from Beaver Falls High School in 1977, Dr. Maat, who never considered himself a committed academician in high school, reflects on a senior-year 1.47 GPA when he needed a 1.5 average to graduate. Having learned techniques for the game of chess from his father, he challenged the high school’s woodshop teacher to a game. If he wins, he graduates high school. If he loses, he repeats another year. Apparently, his Dad’s coaching tips paid-off.
Following his early training at Community College of Beaver County (Pa.)and Community College of Allegheny County (Pa.), Dr. Maat initially worked as a respiratory therapist at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. He quickly developed star-quality studying patterns while attending both at CCBC and CCAC and during his first job as a registered respiratory therapist supervisor at Allegheny General Hospital — a stark contrast from his academic performance in high school.
Studying and practicing in Atlanta resulted in a B.S degree in respiratory care from Georgia State University and post-bachelor’s degree in perfusion technology from Northeastern University in Boston.
While studying and focusing on African spirituality and physics, he attained his Ph.D. in 2000 from the Metaphysical Institute of Higher Learning in San Bernardino, California.
Fast-forward to winter 2020, amid the coronavirus and COVID-19 outbreak, Dr. Maat finds himself in an unprecedented battlefield – on the front-lines of America’s first pandemic in 100 years as a medical professional treating patients suffering from chronic respiratory deficiencies.
With over 40 years of experience and training as a respiratory therapist, and later as a perfusionist, Dr. Maat, during a pandemic, now serves as a highly-sought-after traveling medical practitioner on the frontlines battling COVID-19 in one of the nation’s largest hotspots – Cleveland Clinic/Fort Lauderdale-Miami, Florida.
Helping stem COVID-19’s growing rates among Blacks
Dr. Ahmses working on a ventilator apparatus, while at Clevelan
Clinic, Florida
“While coronavirus patients typically display symptoms requiring oxygen support with symptoms such as chest pains, shortness of breath and muscle aches, the use of external respirators and ventilators are typical devices used to treat respiratory deficiencies,” says Dr. Maat. His perfusionist training requires expertise in administering artificial lungs, hearts and kidneys used during the replacement process of heart-lung bypass surgeries.
“My role as a perfusionist is to keep the patient alive during the replacement of organs, kidneys, lungs, hearts, during the entire operation. Where advanced cardio life-support ends, perfusion life-support begins,” explains Dr. Maat.
Amid current cases of COVID-19 cases rising throughout the United States with disproportionate numbers impacting African Americans, Dr. Maatknows and understands how valuable his knowledge, experience and overall skillsets are during this pandemic.
But the real question that must be answered is why the African American community has suffered more than any other group during the pandemic?
Dr. Maat, now 61, credits the disparaging numbers affecting people of color who generally suffer with lower immune systems. Those are the ones suffering from diabetes, hypertension and obesity. It’s also a fact that too often, black folks don’t eat lots of vegetables and have lived in environments with high toxins like lead-based paints. Although the larger cause is systemic racism and oppression, it exists all throughout the globe including America and the medical industry, unfortunately.” he said.
“Systemically, as a respiratory therapist or clinical perfusionist, I tend to see a system geared toward a certain population facing more social ills. I want to make the world a better place, doing what I do – and my non-African peers they see what’s going on, and they too, want to do the right thing,” he added.
Living in a sports-related environment was challenging
Growing up in sports-enthused Western Pa., specifically in Beaver Falls, “Like all the kids in my 15th Street neighborhood, I wanted to play football, basketball and baseball – and become the next Joe Willie Namath, our hometown hero and Super Bowl III quarterback”, says Dr. Maat.
“Hoops and football couldn’t work for me, but I enjoyed playing baseball. It didn’t demand the intense running like basketball, and it wasn’t dirty and dusty like football. I always had to concern myself with staying healthy at all times –so I always carried my inhaler,” he noted.
In retrospect, Dr. Maat targets his asthma woes with environmental impacts. He lived next door to the now-razed Armstrong Cork plant, which consistently emitted smokey fumes and white, ashy particles from its factory walls. He also lived with two cigarette-smoking parents.
By the time he reached age 12, with the influence of a childhood neighbor, Richard “Dicky” Morris, Dr. Maat started taking Karate lessons from the now infamous Beaver County School of the Oriental Arts of Self-Defense, headed by the family of Willy Wetzel and Roy Wetzel, one of the nation’s first Karate instructional schools, located in Beaver Falls and later, Rochester. In March of 1975, the school closed after a much-reported family battle between son Roy and father, Willy. The older Wetzel died of strangulation, according to published reports.
Aside from the controversial homicide, Dr. Maat says his Karate and Judo experience tremendously impacted his breathing patterns and primarily helped him to overcome childhood asthma.
With a growing reputation of being incredibly skilled in martial arts throughout Beaver County, Dr. Maat was also able to leave behind unfavorable experiences of being bullied by larger upper classmates while in high school.
He likewise credits his mother and Godmother, Marian Jane Taylor, for tending to his crisis situations as a youngster – and later ensuring that he was proficient at self-care, even at a young age. “I was always a mama’s boy,” he admitted. “She was fully committed to my ailment; and would often take-off work early to ensure my medical needs were met – self-care is essential to my health and has always been a part of my proactive healthy lifestyle.” he recalls.
Career and Family development
Dr. Ahmses with Sheree White, a special neighborhod sisterly friend.
While living in Atlanta, he joined an anti-KKK protest march in Forsyth County, Ga. in 1987, led by the late Rev. Hosea Williams, one of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) colleagues, along with SCLC head, the Rev. Joseph Lowery.
“In the late 1980s, when South Africa’s President Nelson Mandela was released from prison – that sparked my interest in the liberation of black people all over the world and to live a more revolutionary lifestyle,” says Dr. Maat.
In explaining his name-change, he says, “It’s similar to when Lew Alcindor changed his name to Kareem Abdul Jabbar. The reason for the name-change was based on my culture, I was Sheldon X in 1992 as a member of the Nation of Islam, and in October 1995, I led a medical brigade from LA to Washington, DC, to be a part of the ‘Million Man March.”
Dr. Ahmses Maat is married to Akua Two Hawk Maat, sharing a blended family including four adult children: Alexia, Malika, Mnsa and GyeNyame Maat.
Inland Empire, Calif. – IE-CEEM extends its appreciation to Walmart Inc. for a $20,000 donation to help reduce COVID-19 infection rates among African Americans in the Inland Empire through increased testing, education and outreach,
The funding will support IE-CEEM’s partnership with Riverside University Health System – Public Health to operate a COVID19 testing site at CrossWord Church in Moreno Valley, which successfully administers more than 600 tests weekly in a predominantly African American area.
In addition to its work in reducing COVID-19 infection rates in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, IE-CEEM is developing strategies in concert with its Health Systems partners to address systemic disparities in African American health outcomes. This collaboration will enable IE-CEEM to implement best practice solutions to these known, yet unresolved health challenges. Combined with the leadership support of African American churches and community-based organizations the team is confident the disproportionate impact of the virus on this population will lessen.
“IE-CEEM is dedicated to improving the health, economic/financial, and education outcomes within the African American community by redefining community prosperity and success for our current and future generations,” said IE-CEEM Founder Reggie Webb. We are committed to addressing the disparity and inequity of all areas that impact the success of the African-American community and are determined to establish equity in the pursuit of parity.”
“We are honored to support community organizations working to ensure those impacted by COVID-19 have access to the care they need,” said Walmart Senior Director of Community Relations Javier Angulo. “Organizations like the IE-CEEM are working tirelessly to meet the needs of underserved populations through their deep-rooted community partnerships and commitment to making a difference.”
To learn more about IE-CEEM, go to www.ceem.coop or visit us on social media at @ceemcoop. To join our efforts, send an email to info@ceem-ie.com.
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