Jamaa Birth Village opens new clinic
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St. LouiS AmericAn The
92 years serving, empowering and advocating equity in St. Louis
CAC Audited JULY 2 – 8, 2020
Vol. 92 No. 14 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
“We must protect the right to peacefully protest, and any attempt to chill it through intimidation or threat of deadly force will not be tolerated.” – Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner
Calls for Krewson to resign get national attention Police violence feared after mayor reads names, addresses of people calling to defund police By Ramona Curtis Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
Patricia McCloskey and Mark McCloskey brandished guns as protestors marched past their home in the Central West End on Sunday, June 28.
Gun-wielding lawyers to be investigated ‘We must protect the right to peacefully protest,’ Kimberly Gardner says By Sophie Hurwitz For The St. Louis American At around 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 28, a crowd that had gathered to demand that St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson resign marched through a small pedestrian gate at the end of Portland Place in the Central West End, where some of the city’s most opulent homes are located. After more protesters moved through the rusty wrought-iron gate, it appeared to have collapsed. When the first wave of citizens made it through, they were greeted by an unexpected sight in front of the large marble mansion at
n The McCloskeys’ gun-toting images went viral as memes of white rage in unhinged defense of white privilege.
1 Portland Place: a white man and woman in their 60s, both barefoot, waving loaded guns at the group. The man was holding a semi-automatic rifle, while the woman held a small pistol. For most of the interaction, her finger was held directly on the trigger.
“Let’s go, let’s go, keep moving!” some protestors shouted, as the crowd moved past. Within about 10 minutes, the whole group of a few hundred had made it past the mansion and was on their way to Krewson’s house a few blocks away to demand her resignation for her recent doxing of citizens asking her to defund the police. As the night went on and protestors chanted for Krewson’s resignation outside her townhouse, images of the gunslinging white couple went viral. By Monday morning, one video of the two had garnered over 13 million See LAWYERS, A6
The nation is watching the City of St. Louis as demands for the resignation of Mayor Lyda Krewson have come from top city officials, aldermen, community leaders, activists and thousands of citizens. Krewson received national attention when she read the names and addresses of citizens calling for the city to defund the police on a Friday, June 26 Facebook Live broadcast. Many said the mayor doxing them put their lives in danger. One of the activists was arrested the next day during a Florissant Police protest. “Lyda Krewson releasing names and addresses of citizens engaged in democratic acts of letter-writing Mayor Lyda to #closetheworkhouse and Krewson #defundthepolice … demonstrates a lack of fitness,” Deaconess Foundation President and CEO Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson said on social media. The Facebook video showing the doxing has since been deleted and Krewson issued an online apology. As of press time, nearly 54,000 people had signed a Change.org petition calling for Krewson’s resignation started by activist Maxi Glamour. The site was registering new signatures by the second on July 1. “I echo the calls for Mayor Krewson’s resigSee KREWSON, A7
2020 HeALtH SALute
Health Salute to be held online 20th anniversary celebration of health care heroes is July 9 American staff
Pagedale swears in Mayor Ernest ‘E.G.’ Shields Ceremony includes moment of silence for late former Mayor Mary L. Carter By Chris King Of The St. Louis American Speaking to the public at the inauguration of a smalltown mayor is the municipal equivalent of preaching to the choir, and 1st Ward Alderperson Faye Millett preached. “I hope more people show up at City Hall,” Millett said to a crowd of about 60 in the municipal park across the
street from Pagedale City Hall on Thursday, June 25. “Your being there makes a difference in how things go down. This is your city.” Millett, serving her 29th year as alderperson of this North St. Louis County municipality of 3,300 (95% of them Black), was one of 20 people other than the new mayor himself who spoke or sang at the See SHIELDS, A7
Photo by Wiley Price
At his inauguration on June 25, Pagedale Mayor Ernest “E.G.” Shields called for civic engagement. He mocked what he called “living room revolutionaries” who “sit in their living rooms talking about what is wrong and how corrupt things are, yet do nothing.”
The 20th annual Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards will be celebrated online as a free virtual event at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 9. To register, visit givebutter.com/salutehc. Those who register have an opportunity to win cash n “We believe this celebration awards. Awards will be given for $500, $500 and of our health $1,000. care heroes The event had been postponed and ultimately and the work they do is more was moved online due to public health concerns important than relative to the COVID-19 ever.” pandemic. The St. Louis American Foundation’s – Dr. Denise Salute events – well-atHooks-Anderson tended gatherings held indoors, typically with much social contact – would not be safe during the pandemic. At the same time, the pandemic and revived Black Lives Matter movement make the Health Salute timely. “The COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter uprising have underscored the devastating racial disparities in health care and that our health care workers are critical and indispensable See SALUTE, A6