Unvaccinated numbers alarm county
@stlouisamerican
@stlouisamerican
St. Louis American See page A12
The
CAC Audited JULY 8 – 14, 2021
Serving, empowering and advocating for equity in St. Louis since 1928
stlamerican.com
Vol. 93 No. 15 COMPLIMENTARY
2021 Salute to Healthcare
Dr. Jerome Williams, Jr. named Lifetime Achiever
Carried on family tradition serving health care needs of STL citizens By Sylvester Brown Jr. The St. Louis American Jerome Williams, Jr., officially retired from Williams Medical Practice at 3409 North Union Blvd just over a month ago. For 60 years, Williams carried on the three generational family legacy of Black doctors who served the health care needs of St. Louis’ citizens.
n “I’m accepting this award for the Williams Family and the tradition of providing medical care for the community.” – Dr. Jerome Williams, Jr.
His grandfather, William R. Williams, MD, and his father, Jerome
Williams, Sr, both practiced medicine in St. Louis.
He compared his “Salute to Excellence” recognition to that of St. Louis American Publisher Dr. Donald M. Suggs, and the longevity of the newspaper. “Just like the dedication I have to improving healthcare in the city, I look upon the St. Louis American as
See WILLIAMS, A7
Photo by Wiley Price
2021 Salute to Healthcare Lifetime Achiever Dr. Jerome Williams, Jr.
2021 Salute to Healthcare
Dr. Kendra Holmes named Stellar Performer “I have always had a passion for helping underserved communities.”
By JoAnn Weaver The St. Louis American
Go Fourth!
Photo by Maurice Meredith / for The St. Louis American
While many African Americans participated in or were spectators at America’s Birthday Parade in downtown St. Louis, Mayor Tishaura Jones spent the weekend with her family and skipped the event. Jones explained that “St. Louis needs to have tough conversations to truly move forward, and this includes the conversation in early June that brought community’s concerns about the Veiled Prophet to the forefront.” The parade, which is sponsored by the Veiled Prophet Organization, was not held last year because of COVID-19 concerns.
Former Councilwoman Hazel Erby leaves behind powerhouse legacy
First Black county councilwoman was mentor, “grandmother” to many
ty’s history. Erby was the first Black woman on the county council, as well as a founding member of the Fannie Lou Hamer coalition, a group Hazel Erby, who spent 15 years as a champion for racial of Black progressive legislators within the St. Louis County equity on the St. Louis County Council, passed away on July 9, government. On the council, she sponsored Board Bill 350 to 2021. She was 75. establish goals for how many minority workers and businesses Erby leaves behind an impressive governmental legacy in St. are employed on publicly funded projects and contracts. Louis County. Not only did she serve as councilwoman for the Pruitt said this bill, along with her advocacy for the funding county’s University City, Ferguson and Overland first district of a community entertainment and recreation facility in North from 2004 to 2019, she served as the director of diversity, equiCounty, is one of Erby’s most important legacies. ty and inclusion under County Executive Dr. Sam Page in 2019 “Let’s just be clear: the two most significant pieces of legisand 2020. lation in the history of St. Louis County that went to the heart A visitation will be held at Layne Renaissance Chapel from of inviting economic equity and inclusion for minorities in St. Hazel Erby 3-7 p.m. Thursday July 15th and her homegoing service will Louis County were done through the work of Hazel Erby,” he be at 11 a.m. Friday, July 16th. In addition, the University said. “And I’m proud to say that I was her right hand in makTownship Democratic Organization will be holding a balloon release in ing sure that those things happened.” Erby’s honor on July 11th at 3 p.m. at Fogerty Park. “Those two things will forever act as a door-opener for minorities At the time of Erby’s appointment as director of diversity, to inclusion and equity…more than anything in the history of St. Louis Adolphus Pruitt with the NAACP said that she was the strongest advoSee ERBY, A7 cate for St. Louis County employees that he could think of in the counBy Sophie Hurwitz The St. Louis American
2020 was a year when everything changed, including how we communicate with each other in addition to coming together to create meaningful change in our communities. For Dr. Kendra Holmes, Pharm. D., senior vice president and chief operating officer at Affinia Healthcare, it was the turning point in her career. “Last year, I was a part of more than 40 panel discussions due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Holmes said. “The panel that stuck out to me the most was the NAACP panel with St. Louis County NAACP President John Bowman.” “St. Louis saw a rise in deaths in the Black community,” Holmes said. 2021 Salute The discussion’s main to Healthcare topic was the fact that Stellar COVID-19 testing wasn’t Performer Dr. readily available in Black Kendra Holmes communities at the beginning of the pandemic. “The implications in the rising mortality rate for African Americans is that there were individuals who were unable to be tested in the early stages of the pandemic in the community,” Holmes said. “This was really a turning point for me when I realized that we, Affinia Healthcare, needed to step up and provide the testing because we weren’t that in North St. Louis and North St. Louis County.” Affinia Healthcare tested 29,231 people for COVID-19 in North St. Louis County and St. Louis City from March 2020 to July 2021. “We knew the most vulnerable communities See HOLMES, A6