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Virtual Hiring Event for Registered Nurses

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Gypsy Gallardo
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We have opportunities available for registered nurses at hospitals in Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties. To register for our virtual career fair, visit https://bit.ly/36F1ids. You’ll receive an email before the event with details on how to attend.

At BayCare, we’re working to create a different health care model. A model whose foundation rests on recognizing and respecting each patient’s humanity, and on providing access to the highest quality medical care. At the core of this model is our team. Join us!If you’re unable to attend, you can search for jobs at BayCareCareers.org.

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Free online conference series

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Gypsy Gallardo
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How to Start Your Print-On-Demand Business 

A free online conference for both new and experienced store owners Join the 3rd Printful Threads online conference and learn the basics of launching your own print-on-demand business. Tune in to find out what tips and tricks marketing experts and ecommerce experts have up their sleeve when it comes to starting an online business.

Sign up here

Nonprofit Tech Acceleration Package AT NO COST

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Gypsy Gallardo
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Give your nonprofit access to donations, discounts, and resources from Microsoft

Microsoft is committed to delivering affordable, innovative cloud solutions to help nonprofits tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges. Through the Nonprofit Tech Acceleration for Black and African American Communities program, the Onboarding Concierge team can match your organization with the technical software and services that will help increase the impact of your mission.

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Joe Biden could send a message to Black Americans with this reparations bill

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Toni Gallardo
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Experts say the H.R. 40 reparations bill could be an early test for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Experts say the H.R. 40 reparations bill could be an early test for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris

Published January 8, 2021 by NBCBLK

A bill reintroduced in the House this week to create a commission to examine reparations for the African American descendants of slavery is being seen by many as an early test of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ proclaimed commitment to tackling structural oppression.

The commission of 13 people would be tasked with examining the history of slavery in the United States and the systemic racism that resulted, including federal and state governments’ role in supporting it, and “recommend appropriate remedies” to Congress. The bill, known as HR 40, was reintroduced Monday by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat.

“Given the role that Black people played in the election, getting him nominated and saving his campaign — there’s no reason they shouldn’t support this bill,” Mary Frances Berry, a professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania, said of Biden and Harris. “This is one of the best ways to make good on their promise to attack systemic racism and white supremacy and elevate the economic and social condition of Black people.”

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Support for the bill has grown steadily since it was introduced in 1989 by then-Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., when 23 representatives co-sponsored it. Conyers reintroduced it every year until his death in 2019, when Lee first reintroduced it. It now has 173 co-sponsors. Despite such support, the bill has yet to be brought to a full vote.

Lee called the bill “a crucial piece of legislation because it goes beyond exploring the economic implications of slavery and segregation.”

“The call for reparations represents a commitment to entering a constructive dialogue on the role of slavery and racism in shaping present-day conditions in our community and American society,” she said in a statement. “It is a holistic bill in the sense that it seeks to establish a commission to also examine the moral and social implications of slavery.”

Biden has not endorsed the bill by name, but he has supported a study of what form reparations could take. A statement on the Biden-Harris website states that the administration will “address the systemic racism that persists across our institutions today.”

In his victory speech, Biden promised to have Black Americans’ backs. That commitment, however, has long been tainted by his role in the 1994 Crime Bill, which disproportionately affected Black communities, when he was a senator from Delaware. He has called parts of the bill a “mistake” while defending the legislation more broadly. One critic highlighted Biden’s apparent “career-long commitments to austerity and policing as a solution to our social problems,” while he has also faced heat, even from Harris, on his record on school desegregation.

Experts like Berry say getting HR 40 passed presents an opportunity for Biden to repair his legacy on race and for Harris to change her own standing with those who have criticized her record while attorney general in California.

“If they were to do this, it would go a long way toward removing the bad taste some people have in their mouths over having to support them,” Berry said.

“It’s not a heavy lift to support a commission,” Valeria Sinclair-Chapman, a political science professor at Purdue University, said. “Supporting a commission like you’d support a task force — that’s actually one of the easier things to do. It would be a landmark to have this reparations commission.”

Federal consideration of reparations isn’t new. The first effort was introduced in January 1865 with Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s order to redistribute hundreds of thousands of acres of land to newly freed Black families. Abraham Lincoln’s successor as president, Andrew Johnson, quickly overturned Sherman’s order. It would be more than a century before reparations legislation would be formally introduced to Congress by Conyers.

Congressional leaders have acknowledged the atrocities of slavery over the years, and Congress in 2009 apologized for the impacts of slavery and Jim Crow-era laws on the nation’s Black population. In 2019, the conversation became a topic of debate in 2019 as Democrats battled for the 2020 presidential nomination, and the writer Ta-Nehisi Coates delivered moving testimony at a hearing on reparations by the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. It was Coates’ 2014 article “The Case for Reparations” in The Atlantic magazine that helped to rekindle the reparations debate.

Talk of reparations isn’t only happening at the national level. Some city and state leaders have offered reparations through funding Black business ownership to increasing access to housing. Critics say that, although these efforts may appear beneficial, wealth distribution would be more helpful than simply making inequitable systems more accessible to Black people. In 2015, organizers in Chicago fought successfully for an ordinance that would provide reparations to dozens of people tortured under a Chicago police commander, Jon Burge, in the 1970s to the ’90s.

Reparations have gone in and out of headlines in recent years, and the summer’s protests following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor have only thrust the topic into the spotlight again. How Biden and Harris engage the conversation, and HR 40 specifically, could foreshadow what Black people can expect from the administration in the coming years.

“HR 40 is symbolic work,” Chapman of Purdue University said. “It’s symbolic and substantive. There’s something about a bill like this that helps people to organize across the country. It brings an issue from the sidelines to the mainstream, and that’s the important work of legislators like John Conyers and Rep. Lee.

“Should it be the measure of commitment among Black people? I think it should be among many. Supporting HR 40 would be easy. There are other substantive proposals that need to be addressed, too.”

    Rep. Al Green reacts to praise for early call to impeach Trump in 2019

    By
    Toni Gallardo
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    EXCLUSIVE: The Texas congressman reflects with theGrio after being acknowledged on the House floor for his foresight in the push to impeach President Trump

    Published January 13, 2021 by the grio

    On the House floor on Wednesday as the U.S. House of Representatives debated on the vote to impeach President Donald John Trump for a second time, there was a special recognition of Texas Congressman Al Green for his early attempts to impeach Trump long before this consequential moment in history.

    Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer acknowledged Rep. Green on Wednesday during a debate on the rules of the article on impeachment. His comments came before a rule vote that preceded the debate on impeachment.

    Green in July 2019 introduced articles of impeachment that were ultimately tabled. At the time, Green wanted to impeach President Trump due to his racist tweets, his targeting of four Democratic congresswomen of color, and his infamous 2017 comments calling neo-Nazis “very fine people” following the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

    Today, Jan. 13, 2020, members of the U.S. House are crediting Green for his foresight. An emotional Green says he is thankful for the acknowledgment.

    “I want to first say that I should have thanked Mr. Hoyer. He did not have to come to the floor with that message, and I think that what he did was to allow for the people who were there at the genesis of this to be noted,” Green exclusively told theGrio.

    Some of those at the very beginning who supported the impeachment effort were lawmakers like California Congresswoman Maxine Waters and Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen.

    The 2019 impeachment effort led by Green concluded that Trump was “unfit for office.” Only 95 members of the House of Representatives signed onto Green’s resolution.

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    “That was when we reached critical mass,” Green said. “I was very much concerned about the president’s behavior and his invidious discrimination. The second one had to do with the president’s putting his bigotry into policy. All of these were really about one thing, and that was the way the president weaponized his hate and he does it very efficiently and effectively.“

    Congressman Green has paid a price for speaking up and calling for the impeachment of President Trump. Death threats and other incidents — including being screamed at by Trump supporters at an airport — following his introduction of the resolution have at times required him to have additional law enforcement protection when in public places. 

    Green is in full support of the effort to impeach Trump for a historic second time, calling it very ”sad.” The congressman was on the Hill Jan. 6 and decided not to go to an undisclosed area of safety with his other congressional leaders. He instead chose to stay with his staff in their office that was not touched by the domestic terrorists and insurrectionists. 

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      Ladee Hubbard’s ‘The Rib King’ looks beyond the labels

      By
      Toni Gallardo
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      A compelling novel tells the story of how a Black man’s face came to be on a barbecue sauce can, and what happened afterward

      Published January 8, 2021 by Tampabay.com

      Until recently — so recently it’s shameful to think about it — the smiling faces of Black servants like Uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima were a long-accepted way to market food and other domestic products. Few consumers wondered what the stories behind those faces might be.

      In her terrific new novel, The Rib King, Ladee Hubbard looks beyond the label to tell one of those stories, and it’s moving, surprising, compelling and strange.

      Hubbard, who lives in New Orleans, spent part of her childhood in Florida. The Rib King is a prequel to her impressive 2017 debut novel, The Talented Ribkins. That book, set in the near present, told the engrossing story of a Black family scattered across Florida who each had an unusual superpower. They shared a mysterious common ancestor, a man known as the Rib King — their surname is a blurred version of that title — who became famous decades ago for a popular barbecue sauce.

      The Rib King explains why that family name became disguised, and a whole lot more.

      Its story is set early in the 20th century, in an unnamed Northern city that sounds something like Chicago. Its first half focuses on Mr. Sitwell, the groundskeeper for a wealthy family, the Barclays. Like the rest of the couple’s household staff, Sitwell is Black, having come to the house as a young boy thanks to a peculiar custom of Mrs. Barclay’s. Each year, she takes in three young teenage boys from a Black orphanage. Working with the Barclays’ staff trains them in skills they can use to get jobs as adults. Mrs. Barclay thinks of it as an act of charity; some of the staff see it as a source of cheap labor.

      Sitwell is the only one of those boys who stayed beyond the allotted year; now in his mid-30s, he’s a reliable teammate to Mamie, the no-nonsense cook who runs the house, and to the chauffeur, Whitmore, and a pretty young housemaid named Jennie Williams. Sitwell is a mentor to the current trio of orphans, Bart, Mac and Frederick, who look enough alike to be brothers and are as closely bonded as family. They’re a bit distractible but cheerful and energetic, and Sitwell is proud of their progress. “He’d soon realized that the easiest way to distinguish between them was to look for their scars,” Hubbard writes: One has a facial scar, one lost part of an ear to a watchdog, and one is missing the toes on one foot, chopped off, he tells Sitwell, to keep him from running away.

      Then Sitwell finds them excitedly reading a book called The Life and Times of Cherokee Red, Wild Man of the Reconstruction. It’s a cheesy dime novel that sounds like a Western shoot-’em-up about a small town being burned down. The boys explain that a recent dinner guest of the Barclays handed out copies of the book, and this one was left behind. They didn’t steal it, they assure him, knowing theft by servants is a firing offense.

      Sitwell believes them, but the book itself disturbs him. Its violent story takes place not in the West but in Florida, a place Sitwell left when he was 9 years old. It reminds him “that his real home would always be a small village in the swamps of Florida that twenty-five years before he’d been forced to stand and watch as it burned to the ground.” The only survivor of that lethal attack, he’s never told anyone about it.

      The book’s character names and the outline of its plot tell Sitwell that it’s based on the real massacre he survived, but the story has been distorted for racist reasons — to make white people the heroes when he knows they were the killers. He realizes that the dinner guests who gave the Barclays the book, a pair of Florida businessmen with whom Barclay is in negotiations over an important deal, have a buried connection to his own past.

      In the early part of the book, Hubbard paints Sitwell as an admirable character: calm, resourceful, generous with his help, a man of integrity. But the boys’ book has a powerful effect on him. Then Mr. Barclay, whose financial situation is dire, makes a deal to sell a meat sauce recipe concocted by Sitwell and Mamie to another businessman. Sitwell’s image, or a cartoonish version of it — the Rib King — will be on the label, but Barclay and the other white man will make the money.

      Hubbard takes the reader right up to the brink of the disaster that results, and then jumps the second half of the book to 10 years later. Now its focus is Jennie Williams, no longer a housemaid. She’s a businesswoman and entrepreneur, the owner of a small beauty salon. Some of Jennie’s past comes to light: She, too, was born into poverty in the South. Married at 11, a mother at 12, Jennie ran away North with her little daughter, Cutie Pie. She’s proud to have raised the girl on her own, and now Cutie is about to graduate from nursing school.

      Jennie is hard at work on a deal to market a salve she and Mamie developed, which functions both as a skin cream and a cure for a certain condition ladies of that era don’t talk about (yeast infection). If she can find a backer, most likely a white one, she can be rich.

      Jennie hasn’t seen or heard from Sitwell for a decade, but now she sees street banners with the Rib King’s grinning, crowned visage, announcing his publicity appearance in the city. Just as suddenly as that dime novel upended his life, his return will blow up hers.

      The book’s second half becomes a surreally tinged mystery as Jennie’s quest for financial backing becomes increasingly tied to her realization that her memory of what happened at the Barclay house is not the entire story. What Sitwell did then, she discovers, might still be going on, and every time she thinks she’s found an answer, another version surfaces.

      Hubbard weaves large issues into The Rib King: racism in all its manifestations, from the tedious everyday indignities its characters endure to staggering economic inequality and unpunished violence. The Great Migration, the early years of the civil rights movement and the rise of the Black middle class all provide background for the story. Hubbard’s measured, elegant style is a grounding contrast to it all, and she crafts a complex, suspenseful plot with skill.

      But, most of all, The Rib King is about its characters, complex, engaging, determined to rise.

      Twitter Permanently Suspends Donald Trump’s Account for Violating ‘Glorification of Violence’ Policy

      By
      Toni Gallardo
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      Published January 8, 2021 by The Root

      Twitter announced Friday evening that it would permanently ban the account of President Donald Trump after continuing to use the platform to incite violence following the riot at the Capitol on Wednesday.

      The company released a blog post explaining what led to this course of action. They cited two tweets the president published on Friday as being responsible for triggering the ban.

      “On January 8, 2021, President Donald J. Trump tweeted: ‘The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!’” the post read. “Shortly thereafter, the President tweeted: ‘To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.’”

      The post said the events on Wednesday played a direct role in its decision to permanently ban the president’s account. “Due to the ongoing tensions in the United States, and an uptick in the global conversation in regards to the people who violently stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, these two Tweets must be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President’s statements can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence,” the post read.

      The company went on to say the two tweets in question were a violation of its Glorification of Violence Policy, which is meant to prevent the platform from being used to incite others to commit violence. The post added that they found the two tweets were “highly likely” to encourage others “to replicate the criminal acts that took place at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.”

      This determination is based on a number of factors, including:

      • President Trump’s statement that he will not be attending the Inauguration is being received by a number of his supporters as further confirmation that the election was not legitimate and is seen as him disavowing his previous claim made via two Tweets (1, 2) by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Dan Scavino, that there would be an “orderly transition” on January 20th.
      • The second Tweet may also serve as encouragement to those potentially considering violent acts that the Inauguration would be a “safe” target, as he will not be attending.
      • The use of the words “American Patriots” to describe some of his supporters is also being interpreted as support for those committing violent acts at the US Capitol.
      • The mention of his supporters having a “GIANT VOICE long into the future” and that “They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!” is being interpreted as further indication that President Trump does not plan to facilitate an “orderly transition” and instead that he plans to continue to support, empower, and shield those who believe he won the election.
      • Plans for future armed protests have already begun proliferating on and off-Twitter, including a proposed secondary attack on the US Capitol and state capitol buildings on January 17, 2021.

      So, it only took four years, a failed coup and multiple people dying but President Donald Trump is finally off Twitter for good for now.

        Police clearing pro-Trump mob from US Capitol after rioters stormed halls of Congress

        By
        Toni Gallardo
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        0

        Published January 6, 2020 by CNN

        (CNN)Police are clearing supporters of President Donald Trump from the US Capitol after they breached one of the most iconic American buildings, engulfing the nation’s capital in chaos after Trump urged his supporters to fight against the ceremonial counting of the electoral votes that confirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s win.

        Shortly after 1 p.m. ET hundreds of pro-Trump protesters pushed through barriers set up along the perimeter of the Capitol, where they tussled with officers in full riot gear, some calling the officers “traitors” for doing their jobs. About 90 minutes later, police said demonstrators got into the building and the doors to the House and Senate were being locked. Shortly after, the House floor was evacuated by police.

        An armed standoff was taking place at the House front door as of 3 p.m. ET, and police officers had their guns drawn at someone who is trying to breach it. A Trump supporter was also pictured standing at the Senate dais.

        The Senate floor was cleared of rioters as of 3:30 p.m. ET, and an officer told CNN that they have successfully squeezed them away from the Senate wing of the building and towards the Rotunda, and they are removing them out of the East and West doors of the Capitol.

        A woman is in critical condition after being shot in the chest on the Capitol grounds, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The sources could not provide further details on the circumstances of the shooting. Multiple officers have been injured with at least one transported to the hospital, multiple sources tell CNN.

        It’s not clear if any of the individuals have been taken into custody.

        Vice President Mike Pence was also evacuated from Capitol, where he was to perform his role in the counting of electoral votes.

        Video from inside the Capitol showed Trump supporters marching through Statuary Hall. The US Capitol Police is asking for additional law enforcement for assistance, including federal authorities, per a source familiar. The source says there are several suspicious devices outside the Capitol building.

        Trump has directed the National Guard to Washington along with “other federal protective services,” according to White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.

        The entire DC National Guard has been activated by the Department of Defense following a pro-Trump mob breaching the United States Capitol.

        “The D.C. Guard has been mobilized to provide support to federal law enforcement in the District,” said Jonathan Hoffman, the chief Pentagon spokesman. “Acting Secretary Miller has been in contact with Congressional leadership, and Secretary McCarthy has been working with the D.C. government. The law enforcement response will be led by the Department of Justice.

        “The Department of Defense had earlier received a request from the US Capitol Police for additional DC National Guard forces but a decision has not been made, according to a senior defense official.

        The official said DC National Guard was not anticipating to be used to protect federal facilities, and the Trump administration had decided earlier this week that would be the task of civilian law enforcement, the official said.

        The shocking scene was met with less police force than many of the Black Lives Matter protests that rolled across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s killing at the hands of Minneapolis police officers last year. While federal police attacked peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square outside the White House over the summer, clearing the way for Trump to take a photo in front of a nearby church at the time, protesters on Wednesday were able to overrun Capitol police and infiltrate the country’s legislative chambers.

        House and Senate leadership is safe and in an undisclosed locations, according to a person familiar. A separate lawmaker said House members have been evacuated to a location that this source would not disclose.

        The US Capitol Police are working to secure the second floor of the Capitol first, and will then expand from there. Outside the Capitol, the DC Metropolitan Police Department continues to mass, but no major move has been made yet toward the crowd.

        The Capitol police officer in the House chamber told lawmakers that they may need to duck under their chairs and informed lawmakers that protesters were in the building’s Rotunda. Lots of House members were seen wearing gas masks as they move between Capitol buildings. Members were calling family to say they are OK.

        While the White House refused to comment on the protests, Trump said on Twitter, “Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!”Others inside the President’s orbit tweeted their calls for calm as the mob repeatedly attempted to take over the building.

        Donald Trump Jr., the President’s son, said that his supporters who mobbed the Capitol were “wrong and not who we are.”

        “Be peaceful and use your 1st Amendment rights, but don’t start acting like the other side. We have a country to save and this doesn’t help anyone,” he tweeted.

        The protesters have breached exterior security barriers, and video footage shows protesters gathering and some clashing with police near the Capitol building. CNN’s team on the ground saw a number of protesters trying to go up the side of the Capitol building. Several loud flash bangs have been heard.

        Protesters could be seen pushing against metal fences and police using the fences to push protesters back, while other officers reached over the top to club people trying to cross their lines.

        Flash bangs could be heard near the steps of the Capitol as smoke filled the air. In some instances officers could be seen deploying pepper spray. Tear gas has been deployed, but it’s not clear whether by protesters or police, and people wiped tears from their eyes while coughing.

        Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser just announced a citywide curfew from 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday until 6 a.m. ET Thursday.

        Federal and local law enforcement are responding to reports of possible pipe bombs in multiple locations in Washington DC, according to a federal law enforcement official. It’s unclear if the devices are real or a hoax, but they’re being treated as real.

        A pipe bomb was found at the Republican National Committee’s headquarters earlier Wednesday, an RNC official told CNN. The device was found on the ground outside, along the wall of the headquarters. It was safely detonated by the police, the RNC official said.

        The Democratic National Committee was also evacuated after a suspicious package was being investigated nearby, a Democratic source familiar with the matter told CNN. The party had preemptively closed the building ahead of the protests, the source said, but a few security and essential personnel were evacuated.

        This is a breaking story and will be updated.

        CNN’s Pamela Brown, Phil Mattingly, and Daniela Diaz contributed to this report.

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        Florida reports more than 31,000 new Covid-19 cases Saturday

        By
        Toni Gallardo
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        Published January 2, 2020 by CNN

        After the Florida Department of Health didn’t issue a Covid-19 report in recognition of the New Year holiday yesterday, today an additional 31,518 Covid-19 cases were reported in the state, according to data from the department.

        There are 1,354,833 total Covid-19 cases in the state, the Florida Covid-19 data dashboard showed.

        There were also 220 new coronavirus related deaths reported on Saturday, bringing the total number of deaths in the state to 22,210, according to the state’s health department.

        According to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, there are currently 6,701 people hospitalized with Covid-19 in the state.

        Note: These numbers were released by Florida’s public health agency and may not line up exactly in real-time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.  

          Virtual Travel: 3 VR Travel Ideas for Black Travel Influencers

          By
          Toni Gallardo
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          0
          For now, traveling is all hopes and dreams, which leads me to a new element of travel we’re sure to see in the near future… virtual travel.

          Published January 1, 2020 by Travel Noir

          2021 is here, along with a new strain of COVID, tight travel restrictions, and a continued decline in travel around the world. 

          With most travelers remaining reluctant to travel due to the pandemic, the travel industry as well as travelers are itching to get back to traveling. In fact, according to a study by Mckinsey, 75% of Gen Z and Millennial travelers aspire to take extended travel trips, while 81% of respondents desire to travel to places less populated and off-the-beaten-path. 

          For now, traveling is all hopes and dreams, which leads me to a new element of travel we’re sure to see in the near future… virtual travel.

          As a Black Travel Influencer, I do what we do best, we innovate, we preserve, and turn lemons into lemonade, my best advice for Black travel influencers is to identify ways to incorporate virtual technology into your business plan.

          Here’s my top 3 virtual travel ideas to give your travel influencer brand a boost:

          Host a Self-Love Fantasy Travel:

          Imagine tuning in to epic visuals of some of the world’s foremost tranquil waterfalls, floral gardens, and wondrous caves. These and more can serve as the visuals to a virtually facilitated self-love webinar.

          Round up your girls and prepare to see sights you cannot yet visit but can still visually indulge in. 

          This may not only be monetized by it can be uniquely customized to fit your travel tribe. 

          Virtual Reality Bae-cation: 

          Virtual bae-time, anyone? Turn a quarantine night into a passionate night in a city far, far, away. It’s 2021, and for many, virtual reality may look better than actual reality.

          Virtual reality (VR) along with Augmented Reality (AR) are lucrative fields that are worth exploring for those in the travel industry.

          Traveling norms and the recovery of the traveling industry are not expected to reach pre-pandemic levels until as early as 2022; as predicted by the CEO of MMGY Global, Clayton Reid. With this, VR/AR is revamping our conception of travel. Don’t let the thought of simple images flashing across AR smartglasses discourage you because this is far from that. One will find themselves immersed in an interactive reality that involves real movement and reactions to the environment. This will transform what we considered to be limitations of travel and allow us to enter a new era of rich experience at our fingertips.

          Travel the Diaspora:

          Ok so this idea would require lots of planning and logistics, but it’ll be an unforgettable experience for many Black travelers. Let’s not forget the epic “Year of the Return” travel phenomenon that brought Black people and Black celebrities from all over the world to visit Ghana. Many Black travelers have a deep desire to reconnect with the African diaspora. 

          Our ancient roots lie deep within us, craving a sense of connecting with our brothers and sisters across the diaspora. For those in the travel industry looking for the ultimate way to pivot during the pandemic, look no further than the diaspora. 

          Consider using VR to take people on a virtual voyage to explore the diaspora in various countries.

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          Here’s when new $600 stimulus checks, PPP loans could arrive

          By
          Toni Gallardo
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          0

          The new stimulus package’s end-of-year timing also has tax implications for charitable donors.

          Published Dec. 29, 2020 by Tampa Bay Times

          Hours after President Donald Trump signed a new COVID-19 stimulus package Sunday night, Brock Blake started seeing a wave of new interest in Paycheck Protection Program loans.

          “There’s definitely appetite,” said the CEO of Lendio, a small business loan broker that matches companies with lenders. “Small business owners are in a very difficult spot.”

          Still, as the U.S. Department of Treasury and Small Business Administration work out the details on how to get more relief money out there, Blake hopes they’ll take time to get it right.

          “I realize that every day is critical right now, with business owners needing capital,” said Blake, whose company shepherded $8 billion to 100,000 businesses during initial rounds of Paycheck Protection Program funding. “But last time, the first few days were such a disaster that no one knew what they were doing, and there was very little guidance. … I hope that now that we’ve all gone through this once, we’ve had some key learnings, and I hope that they will map out all of the guidance straight up, up front, even if it takes a couple of extra days.”

          With the end of 2020 at hand, timing remains a big question about the $900 billion stimulus package, which will provide $600 checks for many Americans and $284 billion in small business loans.

          The law stipulates that the Treasury disperse the funds “as rapidly as possible.” In the case of the $600 payments, that means no later than Jan. 15. Those who are signed up for direct deposits from the Internal Revenue Service could see them in the next week; those who got them by mail last time will have to wait a little longer. (The IRS created a tool this spring to sign up for direct deposit, but it’s currently down for maintenance as the office prepares for the rush of payments.)

          Those who don’t receive a payment — but believe they were entitled to one — will be able to claim what’s called a “recovery rebate” on their upcoming 1040 tax forms. That applies both to last spring’s payments ($1,200 per person, $2,400 per couple, plus dependents) and the new payments ($600 per person, $1,200 per couple, plus dependents).

          For Paycheck Protection Program loans, the Small Business Administration has 10 days from Trump’s signature to create and clarify new guidance and applications. That would be around Jan. 6.

          Blake said Lendio is already collecting applications for first-time borrowers, and expects the first money to trickle through around Jan. 10. Those seeking a “second draw” loan will have to wait a little longer. Either way, companies will have to incorporate new federal requirements, including proof that their business declined by at least 25 percent from one quarter in 2019 to the same quarter in 2020.

          “Even though we’re gathering the applications, we’re not submitting them to the SBA yet for approval,” Blake said. “We’re gathering them and queuing them, and as soon as they give us the green light, then we’ll submit them.”

          The new law also extends through 2021 a few time-sensitive stipulations of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Stimulus (CARES) Act.

          For example, the CARES Act increased the cap on allowable charitable tax deductions throughout 2020, giving people the ability to deduct donations worth up to 100 percent of their adjusted gross income (compared to 60 percent in previous years). It also allowed non-itemizers to deduct up to $300 per person, a rule that did not previously exist. Both rules have now been extended into 2021, which means people who give before New Year’s and after should be able to claim those deductions both this year and next.

          “A lot of people do need that $600, but there are a lot of people who don’t necessarily need it,” said financial planner Chuck Lewandowski of Lutz. “Now you can use that money, if you’re charitably inclined, to get a deduction on the top end of your tax returns.”

          Even before the new stimulus package, that tax break had paid dividends for numerous charities. American Stage Theater Company in St. Petersburg has seen triple the number of charitable donors from 2019 to 2020, in part because of the CARES Act provision, said artistic director Stephanie Gularte.

          “We’re seeing significant increases over previous years’ end-of-year giving,” Gularte said. “A lot of people are wanting to give inside the tax year.”

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          Catalyze 2021: Carl Lavender of the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg

          By
          Toni Gallardo
          -
          0
          Catalyze 2021: Carl Lavender of the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg

          Published on December 31, 2020 by the St Pete Catalyst

          The largest grantmaking foundation in the city, the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg – re-created just five years ago from the bones of the Bayfront Health Education and Research Organization, a public charity – has as its focused mission making long-term improvements to quality of life.

          From the organization’s website:

          Health equity means that everyone can attain their highest level of health, free from avoidable and unfair differences and barriers such as racial discrimination. If we want a healthier community, we must strive for a more just and equitable one, beginning with race equity.

          According to Chief Equity Officer Carl Lavender, “2020 was our defining year. From my point of view.”

          The arrival of Covid-19 last March was the Foundation’s first call to action. “We knew that there would be so much to do, that if we didn’t organize our response we would be scattered every place and not have spaces for impact,” Lavender said. “So we divided our responses into three different buckets.”

          1. Disease mitigation. “In cooperation with the Department of Health, we funded some test-taking for Covid, we funded community education for Covid. We reached out to the Department of Health, the Urban League and other organizations to step in and ensure that people of color had access to the right information, testing, et cetera.”
          2. Economic development. “Forty-one percent of all Black and Brown small businesses closed because of the city, county and state ordinances. Just obliterated them. So we’ve resourced a number of community interventions to allow for the smallest businesses to still have some liquidity during the crisis. So there’s some resiliency there on the part of those small businesses, like beauticians and barber shops, and small seamstress shops – those things that make up a huge fabric in the Black and Brown community.”
          3. Non-profit capacity. “We allowed our nonprofits to re-purpose their dollars. Whatever their grant was, we contacted them and said ‘You can re-purpose your dollars toward a Covid-19 response.’ Millions of dollars were re-purposed toward Covid-19.”

          The next campaign, he added, will address the imminent Covid vaccine, “and how we might get the vaccine information out to those communities that are most likely not to take the vaccine because of their insecurity, and words and traditions and abuses in the past when it comes to these kinds of things in the Black community.”

          Lavender sees the big picture – philanthropy is not just about money, it includes education, information and follow-through. “Certainly, 2020 will be a year we could very well say absolutely, we were very clear on our role in the community,” he explained. “It became formally defined. After George Floyd’s killing, it was even more deeply defined. We went from Covid-19 to George Floyd, and to that end people came to us in big numbers saying ‘What do we do now?’”

          The Foundation helped organize meetings and peaceful demonstrations, disseminated information and provided funding for violence mitigation and prevention.

          Looking ahead, Lavender sees a busy 2021 for the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg. Since Black voters turned out in unprecedented numbers for the presidential election, he said, “We’ve got a responsibility now to those we encouraged to vote. We’ll have small campaigns on who did get elected, and where those elected stand on race equity.

          “We have a mayoral election in St. Petersburg in 2021. So we want to make sure that people are informed about that, because government has a big role in systems change, and protecting citizens from harm, and institutionalizing economies, et cetera.”

          A top “sociological conversation” for 2021, he is certain, will be the relationship between minorities and the vaccine: “Why Black people in particular are hesitant to participate in these kinds of interventions. It needs to be addressed through essay, through advocacy, through leaders taking the vaccine themselves and saying to people ‘It’s OK.’ “

          In short, his work is cut out for him. Lavender is a charter member, along with others on the civic front lines, of the recently-formed Race Equity Leadership Council. “It’s going to be a big part of our year, along with some other economic development pieces in race equity,” he said. “I think those things together are going to be very positive.

          “I believe that we are in a good place, as a city, to be a model for the country, that says we will no longer tolerate the mistreating of citizens because of the color of their skin. ‘We will object to it, we will fight it, and we won’t see it again.’”

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