Nursing home workers protest working conditions
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St. LouiS AmericAn The
92 years serving, empowering and advocating equity in St. Louis
CAC Audited MAY 21 – 27, 2020
Vol. 92 No. 9 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
“When you look at the need, it’s so incredibly overwhelming.” – Michael P. McMillan, Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis
Police brutalized mother, son according to suit Des Peres police claim Derek Gray resisted arrest By Ashley Jones For The St. Louis American
Photo by Wiley Price
Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis President and CEO Michael P. McMillan and state Senator Jamilah Nasheed loaded boxes of food and necessities into the trunk of a car on Saturday, May 9 at the agency’s Aubert Avenue location in the city’s Fountain Park neighborhood.
Urban League nears $1M in COVID survival needs County Prosecutor Wesley Bell: ‘This is just another example of leadership’ By Chris King Of The St. Louis American By the end of May, the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis will have distributed $1 million in free food, necessities and safety supplies since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region. “When you look at the need, it’s so incredibly overwhelming,” said Michael P.
McMillan, president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis. “And 75% of these families tell us they have never, ever been in a food line in their entire life.” Along with a host of private, non-profit and government partners, the Urban League is serving the community in a weekly series of drive-through outreach events. Cars line up hours before the events are scheduled to begin. Police are needed to direct traffic
as cars come from every direction. “Their process would rival any high-performance assembly plant,” as Kenya Vaughn reported here. At the first event at the Urban League site in Jennings on April 2, staff and volunteers served 1,075 families. At the most recent event at the site of the former Jamestown
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See URBAN LEAGUE, A6
‘The virus is still out there’
Lamonte’ Richardson, 23, practiced public safety precautions for COVID-19 along with his jump shop in Fairgrounds Park on Tuesday, May 19.
Region risks worse COVID-19 spike in June if precautions are abandoned By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American Many have watched the footage of people crowding into bars in Wisconsin after stay-at-home orders were lifted, said Dr. Alexander Garza, incident commander of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force. “That’s absolutely the wrong thing to do,” said Garza, who is chief medical officer for SSM Health. “That is a surefire way for transmission to get kicked up and for us to be right back where we started from.” During his Friday, May 15 briefing, Garza said that his major concern with the shelter-in-place orders easing in the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County on May 18 is that people will equate relaxing the public-health restrictions with the virus being gone. “That’s not equal,” Garza said. “The virus is still out See VIRUS, A7
A 68-year-old mother is suing the City of Des Peres and four of its police officers for what she describes as a brutal assault and battery that occurred on March 23 following a false charge of stealing a television set. “We are demanding accountability,” attorneys Andrew M. Stroth and William E. Dailey said. “We are demanding justice.” According to the lawsuit, Derek Gray suffered three shattered front teeth, a head injury requiring 12 stitches and seven staples, a cut above Marvia his right eye that required Gray seven stitches, along with severe neck and back pain. Marvia Gray, 68, suffered severe injuries to her tailbone, back, rotator cuff, knees and arms, among other injuries, according to the suit. They claim four Des Peres police officers brutalized them when they returned a TV to Sam’s Club on Manchester Road in Des Peres, “throwing them to the floor, beating them, handcuffing them, then Derek arresting them,” according to Gray the suit. “I’m looking at these police just beating him and kicking him and all of this, and I said, ‘They’re going to kill him,’” Marvia Gray said. “I could see my son die before my eyes.” The city attorney for the City of Des Peres said the city does not comment on pending litigation. On March 25, Des Peres’ director of Public Safety responded to social media posts about the incident in a release. It stated that Derek Gray
Photo by Wiley Price
Annie Malone raises $80K with virtual May Day parade Agency needs help from corporate community to continue services By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American When the 110th annual Annie Malone May Day Parade was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, agency leaders worried about the loss of $100,000 in anticipated parade fundraising. However, the St. Louis community stepped up to support Annie Malone Children and Family Services — and raised nearly $80,000 during the agency’s virtual May Day parade on Sunday, May 17. “These were donations that averaged $25,” said Sara Lahman, Annie Malone CEO. “There were a few companies that stepped up, but for the most part this was an individual-donor, community-led effort. The number of first-time donors was staggering, especially among those 25 to 35.” St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones served as grand marshall, following in the footsteps of See ANNIE MALONE, A7