Volume 26 Issue 2

January 31, 2021

GREATER HOUSTON EDITION

Vol. 26, Issue 02

“Addressing Current & Historical Realties Affecting Our Community”

AMANDA GORMAN NATIONAL POET LAUREATE

By: N.L. Preston

On January 20, the country met - and fell in love with Amanda Gorman, the nation’s first-ever youth poet laureate, as she eloquently spoke of inspiration for a new America at the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice

Amanda cont’d page 2

NEW BLACK AMERICA!

By: Roy Douglas Malonson

Anybody who knows me knows I am not afraid to say what needs to be said, and with all that’s happening in the country right now, I think you all need a wake-up call. On January 20, the nation took on the tune of a Ray Charles hit, officially singing to “President” Donald Trump to “hit the road, Jack, and don’t you come back no more, no more!” But now, what happens next? Do we foolishly look at President Joe Biden as the “savior of Black America?” While we trust he is the right man to do the job for the next four years, we cannot rest our futures solely in his hands. It’s time to look at the man in the mirror and say, “it is time to take control!” If you learn nothing from history, you are doomed to repeat it. And if you can’t see what just happened the last 12 years of your life, especially with the last administration, we can look up one day and see another “Trump-like”

political fool sneak in on us, so I ask you, are you ready for that? In this “new normal” of America, Blacks will have to go back to the “old ways” of pride and unity - which we used in our post-slavery fight for civil rights - and implement a renewed sense of education, health, wealth and focusing on the Black family unit if we want to come out of this COVID-19 / Coronavirus pandemic stronger and wiser. Let’s face it - these stimulus checks and food donation lines will never be a substitute for the 40 acres and a mule we were promised. And as a matter of fact, it would cost an estimated $6.4 trillion if paid out today, according to various reports. That number really makes Biden’s proposed “rescue stimulus” package look like chump change, doesn’t it? How can you repay a race for 246 years (1619-1865) of slavery? Black America cont’d We’d bankrupt this damn page 4

HANK AARON DIES

Fans across the country are mourning the death of Hank Aaron, the legendary baseball player who defied racism. He was 86. Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed “Hammer” or “Hammerin’ Hank,” played 23

Hank Aaron cont’d page 3

WASH YOUR HANDS FREQUENTLY • AVOID PUBLIC SPACES OR EVENTS WITH MORE THAN 10 PATRONS • SANITIZE AND STOCK UP • AVOID TOUCHING YOUR EYES, NOSE AND MOUTH • PRACTICE GOOD HYGIENE