The Skinny on COVID
The latest in numbers: 44M total cases & 714K deaths (+676K & +12K from last week) in the US.
The headlines:
New case counts are dropping in every state except for Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, & Pennsylvania.
Pfizer is seeking to administer the vaccine to children between the ages of 5 & 11 years old. The FDA will hear their request on October 26.
Some organ transplant recipients are being deprioritized on waitlists for refusing to get vaccinated. Hospitals say it’s because transplant surgery requires them to take drugs that weaken their immune system, putting them at a higher risk of dying from COVID-19.
Keeping Up with Biden & Harris
Biden seemed to have broken his losing streak when a judge granted his administration’s request to block Texas’ abortion law. Unfortunately, that only lasted 2 days. The Justice Department has until tomorrow to decide whether to respond to the ruling to reinstate the law.
Donnie asked his successor for executive privilege protection over documents pertaining to the January 6 Capitol riots. Biden hit him with “I’m good luv, enjoy” instead.
As Democrats fight amongst each other on Biden’s $3.5T budget plan, it appears as though HBCUs will receive the short end of the stick.
Is Kamala Harris simultaneously being underutilized & set up for failure? Some think the VP has been given a roster of issues that are impossible for her to win. Do you agree?
Today is Indigenous People’s Day & Biden is the first POTUS to officially recognize it. Unfortunately Columbus Day is also still a thing.
Congress, What’s Good?
Republicans gave an inch on the debt ceiling & nothing more. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell offered to raise the debt ceiling so that the government can do things like pay military personnel & distribute social security payments until December. Of 2021. Dassit. Is it just us or does it seem like Congress is always living on the edge? Barely avoiding one disaster only for another to be the next block over. Make it make sense.
Among Congress’s hearings last week, one of the most notable was with a whistleblower from Facebook who claimed the social platform was toxic for adolescents & ineffective at removing hate speech. (Pretty much stuff we already knew.) The US Special Envoy for Haiti also spoke before congress to say why the government’s treatment of Haitian asylum seekers made him quit. In essence, he felt that the US’ response to the arrival of Haitians at the border was inhumane and that had the government conducted any checks to ensure returning deportees to Haiti was safe, they would have found that it was not.
On this week’s schedule for committee hearings:
The recruitment of veterans by domestic terrorist groups
Ethics in the age of artificial intelligence
How cashless societies impact disadvantaged communities
Social Justice Round Up
Gavin Newsom has been busy busy since winning his recall election. Among some of the recent legislation he’s signed in the Golden State: ending mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug crimes & stripping bad cops of their badges. He also signed a bill to ensure free sanitary products are offered in public schools & another to support Black moms & newborns.
What little defunding of the police did occur after last year’s uprisings is now being reversed. Recent studies show that crime has increased in cities across the country & local governments are pouring money back into their police departments as a result. It’s as if they believe police presence prevents crime from happening…
Tesla must award $137M to a former Black employee for subjecting him to a hostile & racist work environment. This is the 2nd known (but much larger) settlement the company is known to have paid to Black employees for this issue.
Around the Diaspora
Climate change is not just a thing that’s impacting the Western world. Forecasts say the world will face a severe water shortage in the next decade & sub-Saharan Africa will bear the brunt of that crisis. The warning does not come without hope though.
Climate is also an issue in the Eastern Caribbean & Grenada’s Prime Minister wants to know what the world is going to do about it.
For people living in Ghana, Brazil & everywhere in between, Facebook is the primary entryway onto the internet. Here’s how last week’s outage impacted developing countries all over the world.
Getting to the Money
Interested in breaking into tech, but don’t think you know how to finesse your way in? Career Karma has got you covered. Founded by a Black man, Career Karma aims to give you the tools & insight needed to establish your career as an engineer, UI designer, & more.
Global marketing firm Tracy Locke is hiring across a number of their accounts. If you’re hoping to add big names like LEGO, Diageo, FedEx, & Pepsi to your portfolio, Tracy Locke just may be your next move. Roles are available across all job functions & will be remote until their offices reopen.
Many of us have a unique talent or skill set, but don’t know how to build a business around it. Here’s how.
Buying Black
We love when we discover that there’s a Black-owned business for the simplest everyday items. This week’s highlight? Bread. The Black Bread Company, to be specific.
Culture that Pops
Queen Latifah aims to end the stigma around obesity.
Don’t check for her music because it’s obviously still on the back burner. The original Bad Gal Rihanna is expanding her Savage X Fenty empire to include brick & mortar locations next year.
Dave Chappelle is facing heat for remarks in a recent Netflix special that many consider transphobic. LGBTQ activists & allies in our community say Dave is lacking in perspective, given the fact that people do live at the intersection of being Black and queer.
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