Across Black America week of April 21, 2016.
California
After months of negotiations and litigation, the University of California and the family of university football player Ted Agu, who died after a team drill in 2014, have settled a wrongful death lawsuit for $4.75 million, the San Francisco Gate reports. Agu, then 21, died shortly after an off-season conditioning workout outside the Memorial Stadium. His parents filed a lawsuit, claiming that the defensive lineman and pre-med student should never have been allowed to do such a strenuous workout because he carried the sickle cell trait, a condition that university doctors and coaches reportedly knew about. The university admitted liability in the young man’s death three months ago, with U.C. attorneys acknowledging that negligence by university officials was “a substantial factor” in Agu’s death, and that no one else, not even Agu himself, was responsible. As part of the settlement, health and safety reforms are now guaranteed for school athletes at Berkeley, with school officials saying that they were sharing the standards with athletic departments at other campuses, too.
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) in Los Angeles has appointed Dr. Debora Prothrow-Stith as the new dean of the College of Medicine. In her new role, Dr. Prothrow-Stith will provide academic leadership, vision, and oversight for CDU’s longstanding College of Medicine. “Dr. Prothrow-Stith is an ideal person to lead CDU’s College of Medicine, a program that trains physician leaders dedicated to the care of underserved and diverse populations,” said Dr. David M. Carlisle, president of CDU. “She has an impressive record as a leader in community-based health care, and we know she will help take our program far.” Dr. Prothrow-Stith is an internationally recognized public health leader. Before joining CDU, she advised top-tier healthcare, life sciences, academic and not-for-profit institutions on leadership and executive talent in her role as a principal at the global executive search consulting firm, Spencer Stuart. Earlier, she served as the Henry Pickering Walcott Professor of Public Health Practice and associate dean for diversity at the Harvard School of Public Health, where she created and led the Division of Public Health Practice and secured more than $14 million in grant funding for public health programs. In 1987, Gov. Michael Dukakis appointed her as the first woman Commissioner of Public Health for Massachusetts, where she led a department with 3,500 employees, eight hospitals and a budget of $350 million. She established the nation’s first Office of Violence Prevention in a state department of public health, expanded prevention programs for HIV/AIDS and increased drug treatment and rehabilitation programs. Dr. Prothrow-Stith received the 1993 World Health Day Award, the 1989 Secretary of Health and Human Service Award, and a presidential appointment to the National Commission on Crime Control and Prevention. She is the recipient of 10 honorary doctorates, and in 2003, was inducted into the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science, one of academic medicine’s highest achievements. She is also a graduate of Spelman College and Harvard Medical School.
New data reveals significant racial bias in Los Angeles’ traffic enforcement arising from disproportionate license suspension and related arrests in communities of color. The findings of a new report, “Stopped, Fined, Arrested: Racial Bias in Policing and Traffic Courts in California,” reveal a racially biased status quo rooted in inequality where race affects who gets stopped, who gets searched, who gets citations and whose car gets towed. The disparity is particularly acute in Black communities such as Watts, Compton, Inglewood and Long Beach. While Black people only comprise 9 percent of the Los Angeles County population, they make up 33 percent of all sheriff department arrests for driving on a suspended license or failing to pay a traffic ticket. A New Way of Life Re-Entry Project is located in one of the hardest hit areas of Los Angeles. “We denounce the practice of suspending people’s driver’s licenses for failure to pay court fines. License suspensions impinge on peoples’ ability to travel to visit family, particularly to visit those who are incarcerated or in the dependency system. This punishment takes away peoples’ opportunity for gainful employment as well as causes them to lose major assets such as their cars and homes. Racial bias in traffic enforcement leaves long lasting effects on our communities through lost driver’s licenses, shrinking economic opportunity, and incarceration,” said Theresa Zhen of A New Way of Life Re-Entry Project. “People of color and the low income should not be singled out and profiled during routine traffic stops and fined and punished in traffic court.”
District of Columbia
The Smithsonian Museum is becoming an home for historic treasures in hip-hop history. According to the Huffington Post, the esteemed museum has announced plans to obtain and preserve more hip-hop history. Famed music journalist and former Def Jam publicity director Bill Adler plans to bring his collection of rare photos featuring veteran hip hop artists such as Run D.M.C, KRS-One, Queen Latifah, Nas, Grandmaster Flash, LL Cool J, Jay Z and more to the be displayed. The collection, which was featured in a gallery in New York City until 2007, includes about 400 photos from numerous photographers as well as other never-before-seen images. After being stored away for nearly a decade, the collection is set to go on the walls of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, a branch of the Smithsonian Museum.
Georgia
Atlanta is mourning the death of civic leader Barney Simms, who was reportedly murdered in his yard on April 9, according to WSB-TV. Witnesses told authorities they heard gunshots at approximately 4 p.m. on Connally Drive in southwest Atlanta. A neighbor found Simms dead in his yard. His front door was unlocked and his black Lexus was missing. Police theorize robbery was the motive behind the shooting. Simms’ home had been targeted at least twice in the past. Simms joined the Atlanta Housing Authority in August 2002 and also served as chairman of several organizations, including the Fulton County DFCS Advisory Board and the Andrew and Walter Young Family YMCA. He was the longtime leader of Atlanta’s License Review Board, which handles alcohol licensing in the city. Police have no suspects at this time, although his car was subsequently recovered in nearby East Point. Atlanta City Council member Keisha Lance Bottoms said: “I am simply heartbroken by the senseless killing of Barney Simms. As an active and gracious leader of the Bonnybrook community, there was no task, too big or too small, that he engaged in to make his neighborhood, and city, a better place. From donning t-shirts and jeans to pick up trash and cut brush alongside his neighbors, to wearing the finest suit to meet with leaders who could be held accountable for change, he epitomized the active engagement and leadership we wish for in all of our neighborhoods. Southwest Atlanta has truly lost a pillar of this community.”
Kentucky
Eight Black men won a $5.3 million jury award last week in a lawsuit over claims that they endured a hostile work environment at UPS in Lexington, and that an effigy of a Black UPS driver was hung from a ceiling. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports a Fayette County Circuit Court jury also found UPS discriminated against one of the eight and that the company retaliated against two men, after they complained. UPS is disappointed with the decision and is considering appeal options, Susan Rosenberg, a spokeswoman at corporate headquarters in Atlanta, told the Associated Press. “UPS has strict policies against harassment and discrimination,” Rosenberg said. “We reinforce that. There’s no retaliation, if employees raise concerns.” When the suit was filed in 2014, a UPS spokeswoman said the dummy was part of safety training for drivers and not intended to offend anyone. The jury awarded $1.5 million for emotional and mental distress to William Barber; $1 million to David Young; $810,000 to Glenn Jackson; $800,000 to John Hughes; $500,000 each to Jeffrey Goree and Donald Ragland; and $100,000 each to Curtis Weathers and Lamont Brown.
Louisiana
Southern University mourns the loss of Baton Rouge students Lashuntae Benton and Annette January, who were killed early Sunday, April 10, in an incident off campus. An investigation by the Baton Rouge City Police Department is ongoing. “As the Southern University family moves forward mourning the loss of Benton and January, whose promising lives were cut short, we are focused on providing support and comfort to the families and to our students. Words alone cannot fully describe the extent to which we are saddened,” said Southern University System President Ray L. Belton. To assist students in coping with the loss, staff from the counseling center is available to SU students throughout the day for crisis walk-in appointments. Also, the counseling center is extending its hours to 6:30 p.m. In memory of Benton, who was a native of Lake Charles and a therapeutic recreation and leisure studies major, and of January, a management major from Gary, Ind., the Student Government Association held a candlelight vigil April 12. University officials have been in contact with the victims’ families and are providing support and assistance. The Southern University System Foundation (SUSF) has established a memorial fund to support the families of Benton and January. Contributions to the SUSF Benton-January Fund can be made via the following link: https://netcommunity.sus.edu/lashuntae-benton-and-annette-january-memorial-fund
Maryland
Actor Wendell Pierce says he has a solution to help Baltimore’s local economy recover from the violent protests against police over the 2015 death of Freddie Gray. During a Newsweek interview published last week, the former “The Wire” star discussed his plans to invest in a $20 million construction project to develop apartment buildings and provide job opportunities in the city’s arts district. “We are putting together a program to train those who are disenfranchised to be a part of the labor force that builds the apartments,” Pierce told Newsweek. “This is my response to the Baltimore uprising. The social justice movement of the 21st century is economic development. Putting people to work is the answer. We all know where violence comes from in the community: It’s a residual effect of an underground economy. The Baltimore plan creates a new economic engine.” Pierce is just one of real estate developer Ernst Valery’s partners on the 103-unit project, which is tentatively expected to break ground in July, according to The Baltimore Sun.
In 2007, Pierce launched the Pontchartrain Park Community Development Corporation to re-build homes that were destroyed in his old New Orleans neighborhood during Hurricane Katrina.
BlackDoctor.org and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions announced recently that Bob Oliver, president and COO of Otsuka America Pharmaceutical Inc., will keynote the third annual Top Blacks in Healthcare Awards Gala April 21 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore. “I am honored to be a part of such an esteemed group being recognized at the Top Blacks in Healthcare Awards Gala,” Oliver said. The event will honor 24 individuals who have made outstanding contributions to medicine and health. These accomplished individuals were identified and selected by alumni from the 2014 and 2015 Top Blacks in Healthcare Awards recipients as well as key individuals from partner organizations such as the National Medical Association, Johns Hopkins University and the American Hospital Association. Oliver is a 25-year veteran of the pharmaceutical industry. For the second year, Blackdoctor.org will have legendary BET host and radio personality, Donnie Simpson, as master of ceremonies.
Michigan
High levels of lead have been detected at some campuses in the Detroit Public Schools district, with water test results released last week showing that about 15 buildings tested positive for high lead levels, including one where a drinking fountain recorded 100 times the allowable limit, the Detroit News reports. It was revealed that 19 of 62 schools exceeded the levels of lead or copper that are deemed acceptable. In addition, the site notes a more detailed report of the levels found in tap water at those schools. The executive director of Detroit’s Department of Health reacted to the news by suggesting that all DPS students under the age of 6 should have a lead screening, regardless of whether they attend a school that exceeded the limit. “The test is free. It’s really important,” Dr. Abdul El-Sayed said, according to Detroit News. “We know that lead can have serious consequences later on in life. We want to give every child the best opportunities in life. That means a life free of lead.” The testing came in the wake of controversy that surrounded the lead contamination in Flint’s water after the switch in water source in April 2015.
The Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that a former Inkster police officer convicted of the brutal roadside beating of a Black motorist during a traffic stop can serve part of his prison term in a boot camp, overturning a lower court judge’s sentencing, Reuters reports. William Melendez, who has been in jail since his Nov. 19 conviction, was sentenced in February to 13 months to 10 years in prison, with the possibility of parole after 13 months, the newswire notes. However, last week the appeals court ruled that Melendez could serve part of his sentence at a boot camp facility, where prisoners participate in military-style exercises and work assignment for 90 days, before moving on to a halfway house, Reuters reports. Melendez was seen on dashcam footage assaulting motorist Floyd Dent. The autoworker was put in a chokehold and punched repeatedly in the head during the traffic stop that took place in January 2015. Dent has said he has suffered various ailments as a result of the beating, including memory loss. He testified at Melendez’s trial that he feared for his life and had begged the then-police officer to stop. Last year the city settled with him for $1.4 million.
North Carolina
SENT BACK TO CAROL FOR REWRITE Students at Duke University engaged in a sit-in after claims began to circulate that the school’s vice president had called a Black worker a “stupid nr.” Shelvia Underwood, a parking attendant, filed a complaint against executive vice president Tallman Trask III, saying that he hit her with his car during a football game in August 2014 and used a racial slur against her, after she confronted him. Upon filing her complaint, Trask issued a written apology. However, the students demanded that Trask as well as two other individuals be fired and asked for the school minimum wage to be increased to $15 per hour. The school met with them last week and offered to review its complaint policies and also to increase the minimum wage to $12 an hour, but after half an hour of discussion, the students rejected the proposal. Trask as attempted to apologize. Student activists insist they will keep fighting until Trask is gone. They’ve been granted amnesty by the school and won’t be arrested for protesting.
South Carolina
A South Carolina judge has delayed the murder trial of the accused gunman in last summer’s Charleston church massacre by six months and rescheduled the proceedings for Jan. 17, 2017. Judge J.C. Nicholson said at a court hearing that he had been obliged to push back the trial from its planned start date in July because defense lawyers said a doctor needs two to six months to conduct psychiatric testing of 22-year-old defendant Dylann Roof. Roof is accused of opening fire on June 17, 2015, during a bible study session at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and killing nine parishioners, including pastor /state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, in a crime that shocked the nation. He is charged with nine counts of murder, as well as with attempting to murder three people who survived the rampage, and he faces the death penalty. Doctors will testify during the trial’s sentencing phase about Roof’s use of cocaine and other substances, his mental health and other background, according to court documents filed last week. Roof’s new trial date could affect when another high-profile case is tried in Charleston—that of former patrolman Michael Slager who is charged with murder in last year’s shooting death of unarmed Black motorist Walter Scott. Roof, who is White, also faces 33 federal charges including hate crimes, obstruction of religion and firearms offenses. Authorities have said evidence showed he had White supremacist views and that he targeted the victims because of their race.
Tennessee
A former Tennessee school officer is filing suit against the Knox County school board and Knox County government, alleging that he was fired in May 2015 because his wife is Black. In the suit, John Smelser is seeking $250,000 in compensatory damages and a “mandatory order requiring defendants to abide by the laws that prohibit race discrimination and ordering the appropriate employees involved in the acts of race discrimination to receive appropriate training.” Smelser was reportedly involved in a domestic disturbance involving his stepdaughter’s boyfriend, but even after the charges were dropped, he received notice from the school that he was being fired. Smelser believes that Gus Paidousis, chief of school security, fired him because the incident revealed to Paidousis that Smelser’s wife was Black. According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, the lawsuit says: “Thereafter, the plaintiff was advised by several supervising officers employed by the defendants that Chief Paidousis had admitted to them that the reason (Smelser) was terminated was because he had a Black wife and his children were Black. (Smelser) alleges that he was terminated due to being married to an African American and that he had ‘Black’ children. The failure by the defendants to provide a reason for (Smelser’s) termination is a cover-up for blatant race discrimination.”
National
At the 13th annual Major League Baseball (MLB) celebration of Jackie Robinson’s enduring legacy, MLB and the Jackie Robinson Foundation (JRF) announced recently that MLB has increased its financial commitment to the foundation and that the two organizations will expand their programmatic partnership beginning this year. MLB will greatly enhance its longstanding philanthropic support by funding 30 four-year JRF scholarships—one for each of the 30 MLB clubs and by contributing $1 million to the foundation’s Jackie Robinson Museum project. Additionally, MLB and JRF will engage JRF scholars in mentoring young people in MLB’s youth and community partnership programs, including Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI), MLB Urban Youth Academies and MLB-supported Boys & Girls Clubs of America programs. Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. said: “Jackie Robinson inspired change throughout the national pastime and society. Major League Baseball and its clubs have long been proud to support the Jackie Robinson Foundation, recognizing the foundation’s important role in perpetuating Jackie’s legacy by advancing education. MLB’s expanded commitment reflects a shared desire to inspire and broaden opportunities for young people in our communities to truly reflect Jackie’s vision for our American society and positively impact future generations.” Historically, Major League Baseball and its clubs have contributed more than $15 million to the Jackie Robinson Foundation for its scholarship program and for the Jackie Robinson Museum.
Compiled by Carol Ozemhoya.
