Kids and COVID
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St. LouiS AmericAn The
CAC Audited SEPTEMBER 24 – 30, 2020
Serving, empowering and advocating equity in St. Louis since 1928
Vol. 92 No. 26 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com June 18, 1940 – September 15, 2020
‘A great warrior, leader, politician’ Wayman F. Smith III served as a member of the HarrisStowe State University Board of Regents for 21 years (19892010) and as chairman for 12 of those years.
Remembering Wayman F. Smith III It was not a story Wayman F. Smith III told of himself, but his sister, the former news anchor Robin Smith, tells it. Each time she tells this story, she weeps. One day her parents told her that her brother was leaving the house and she should go tell him that she loved him and tell him
Democratic nominee for secretary of state says most voters are eligible to vote absentee By Chris King Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Wiley Price
By Chris King and Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American
Absentee voting underway
everything else that she had to tell him. Her brother was carrying his things to his car, but he came back to his little sister, 15 years younger than the young man. She told him that she loved him and that she hoped he would come back and play with her and her dolls. She was 4 years old. When her brother drove away, her parents, Wayman F. Smith Jr. and Edythe Meaux Smith, embraced in a burst of emotion. Later,
Absentee voting opens in Missouri on Tuesday, September 22. What should a Missouri secretary of state who wants all eligible voters to vote and all votes to count be telling voters about voting absentee in this election? The American asked this and similar questions of Yinka Faleti, the Democratic nominee for secretary of state, Missouri’s highest election authority, and a U.S. Army veteran with extensive experience in the non-profit sector. Yinka Faleti: Missouri law for this year allows voters who meet certain criteria enumerated under the law to vote absentee. Were I Missouri’s secretary of state, I would want as many eligible Missourians to vote as possible. As such, I would be highlighting to voters that many legal experts agree that, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, most Missourians are able to Yinka Faleti vote absentee under reasons no. 2 and no. 7 enumerated in the law, specifically: incapacity or confinement due to illness or physical disability or caring for someone as such; and a voter who has contracted or is in an at-risk category for contracting COVID, including all voters 65 years of age or older, respectively.
their daughter would understand why. At that time, the Ku Klux Klan was killing people who drove South to register Black voters, as this young Black man from North St. Louis was doing that day. “He was willing to risk his life and they were willing to risk their first-born to make sure people registered to vote,” Robin said.
The American: Our local election authority told us that his office has no investigative staff to challenge people’s claims that they need to vote absentee, and we are aware of no one who has been challenged or whose absentee vote has been discounted. Given the unprecedented nature of current Republican attacks on the voting process, is there any reason for someone to fear being investigated after voting absentee and having their vote discounted? Yinka Faleti: We cannot allow fear to prevent us from exercising our voice and our choice by
See SMITH, A7
See VOTING, A6
Disrupter in chief Sharonica L. Hardin-Bartley is 2020 Stellar Performer in Education By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American University City Schools Superintendent Sharonica L. Hardin-Bartley is a status-quo disrupter. “The bravery she shows is unparalleled,” said Christina Groves, middle-school teacher and parent in the district. “It is very clear to those of us who care about the education of all children that the way we do school is not sustainable; it is not helping students grow, and it’s actually designed in many ways to keep the status quo.
And Hardin-Bartley is not at all afraid to disrupt that.” After Hardin-Bartley became superintendent in 2016, she led the district in drafting a strategic plan that aims to “humanize, personalize and problematize” the learning experience for their students. When she served on the Ferguson Commission’s Youth at the Center workgroup, Hardin-Bartley helped to write the commission’s recommendations for schools, specifically for addressing trauma. She is also a board
See BARTLEY, A6
University City Schools Superintendent Sharonica L. Hardin-Bartley holds restorative circles with students and staff to resolve conflicts, which has decreased out-ofschool suspensions.