$100K for COVID relief
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St. LouiS AmericAn The
92 years serving, empowering and advocating equity in St. Louis
CAC Audited JUNE 25 – JULY 1, 2020
Vol. 92 No. 14 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
COVID-19 at the St. Louis Workhouse “We are saddened but not surprised. It’s impossible to social distance in jail,” Inez Bordeaux, Close the Workhouse organizer, said of a COVID-19 infection in the city jail.
One detainee tested positive, city won’t say how many are quarantined By Ramona Curtis Of The St. Louis American
File photo by Carolina Hidalgo / St. Louis Public Radio
A detainee at St. Louis’ Medium Security Institution, known as the Workhouse, has tested positive for COVID-19, according to city officials. A spokesman for Mayor Lyda Krewson said this is the first instance of a city jail detainee testing positive for the deadly virus. “The Division of Corrections took immediate, proactive measures to quarantine this individual and all
n “How many are being held on nonviolent offenses where those people could be released to go home and that would help reduce the community spread in the city?” – Inez Bordeaux, Close the Workhouse organizer
others they came into contact with,” according to City Communications Director Jacob Long. As of June 24, the Workhouse contains 92 detainees, mostly peo-
ple who have not been convicted of a crime but are incarcerated because they cannot afford bail
See COVID-19, A6
Black freedom matters Juneteenth goes mainstream through diverse protests By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Bill Greenblatt?UPI
Veteran civil rights activists in the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists helped to lead the way on Juneteenth as St. Louis once again turned out en masse to march downtown in protest of police brutality against Black people.
By Chris King Of The St. Louis American The words were from God’s lips to the ears of the people of Ferguson, by way of Lady Denise Thimes, who prays over which selection to sing. “You made them hear you,” she sang. Thimes was adapting the Stephen Flaherty song “Make Them Hear You” for the ceremonial swearing in of Ferguson Mayor Ella Jones on Wednesday, June 17. Thimes was singing to the new mayor and the city and the people’s movement that resulted in her election. “They blamed you for the way you chose to fight,” Thimes sang. Since the
n “Thank you to those who voted for her and gave us the opportunity to be here. It is your challenge to let this not be the end of your time with her.” – Michael P. McMillan, Urban League
ceremony was taking place at the Ferguson Empowerment Center, formerly ground zero for the Ferguson Uprising, the echo of struggle was clear. Thimes emphasized the point with a shout: “Ha!”
See JUNETEENTH, A7
2020 SALute to HeALtH
Ferguson celebrates Ella Jones, its first Black mayor Urban League CEO Michael McMillan: ‘This is the future’
Black America did what it has done on June 19th since 1865. We celebrated our liberation. Our freedom is not unconditional – hence the nonstop protests underway across the nation for nearly three weeks, motivated by the police killing of George Floyd. But still, it is a freedom that our ancestors were unable to experience for nearly n “On years. Juneteenth, we 250Four centuries ago, celebrate our enslaved Africans were resilience.” shipped here as looted property. They were terror– Montague ized into submission and Simmons systemically dehumanized for the sake of profit until halfway through the Civil War – a war initiated to ensure that Black people remained in bondage. Juneteenth 2020 had a different energy because of unprecedented attention on the African American tradition considering the current racial climate, with allies boldly proclaiming that Black Lives Matter. Their doing so helped amplify the message that our people have been expressing collectively since long before the Emancipation Proclamation – and General Gordon Granger’s arrival at Galveston two years later, that we have commemorated annually for generations. “On Juneteenth, we celebrate our resilience,” Montague Simmons addressed the crowd at The People’s Rally on Friday, June 19 outside
Photo by Wiley Price
Missouri Chief Justice George W. Draper III conducted a ceremonial swearing in of Ferguson Mayor Ella Jones on Wednesday, June 17. Ferguson’s first Black and first woman mayor was introduced by St. Louis County’s first Black prosecuting attorney, Wesley Bell. She was sworn in ceremonially by Missouri’s second Black chief justice, George W. Draper III. Like most of the speakers, Bell quoted scripture: “Faith without works is dead.” Bell ran alongside Jones for Ferguson City Council in 2015 and served alongside her on the council. He knows her work ethic. “Pastor Ella, she’s a worker,” Bell said. Jones is a former pastor and a former leading Mary Kay cosmetics salesperson. Her church and her Mary Kay families came out See JONES, A7
‘You have the power to change the outcome’ Dr. LJ Punch is 2020 Stellar Performer in Health Care By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American One question changed everything for trauma surgeon Dr. LJ Punch: “Where you at?” In 2016, Punch was a panelist at a community forum on gun violence, hosted by Better Family Life. It was just six months after Punch arrived in St. Louis, and Punch’s new employer Washington University School of Medicine had a gun-violence initiative. Punch had just been recruited from Baltimore to work in the surgery department at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. “After the panel — which I felt did not go See SALUTE, A6