Georgia Gov. Kemp Axes Driver’s Test Requirement For Teens, Only Parent’s Consent Needed

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has signed an executive order allowing teenagers in the state to skip the driving test in order to get a license. All that’s required for now is their parents’ consent.

According to CNN, all other requirements before the test must be fulfilled. Once the requirements have been fulfilled, teen learner’s permit holders will be allowed to obtain a provisional license by providing an affidavit from their parent or driving instructor stating they have completed 40 hours of supervised driving.

A clean driving record of at least one year and one day is also required. Permit holders over the age of 18 can sign their own affidavit.

The order will stay in effect until the expiration of the state’s Public Health State of Emergency, which Kemp has extended to May 13.

“During these unprecedented times, the Department of Driver Services is trying to make it as easy as a process for people to get their license and to lessen the burden on people right now,”  Stormi Kenney, who owns a driving school within the state, told Fox 5 Atlanta.

Spencer Moore, Commissioner of the state’s Department of Driver Services¸ said social distancing guidelines currently make it impossible to conduct in-person tests. Additionally, there is a backlog of 30,000 applicants, with an average of 5,000 teens having taken the exam every week prior to the shutdown.

Moore added the pass rate for teens in the state is over 80%.

Kemp’s executive order also outlined how the state will loosen its social distancing requirements which went into effect last week. However, a model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, says the state shouldn’t open up until at least late June.

Even that date assumes the state will implement aggressive testing, contact tracing, isolation, and crowd-size limits to prevent more infections. Although spaces in the state are opening, African American leaders are urging residents to stay home. African American barbers in the state are also weighing health over profits.

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Georgia Gov. Is Slammed After Coronavirus Study Shows Effect On Blacks

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is taking a lot of heat after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study showing African Americans are suffering gravely from the coronavirus pandemic.

The study, released Wednesday, showed African Americans make up a majority of the 297 coronavirus patients reported in the study. Additionally, although African Americans weren’t more likely than any other group to die from the disease or to require a ventilator, according to the study, 83.2% of the patients with coronavirus were African American.

“That is a very high rate of infections,” Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick, Howard University president who was not involved in the report told NewsOne.

Frederick added the high percentage of African Americans in the study most likely reflects the occupation of the patients.

“A lot of it may come from the fact that African Americans are essential employees in our system,” he said. “Everything from bus drivers to healthcare workers and cleaning services, they are on the front line, and therefore are far more likely to be exposed.”

The statistics of the study line up with national statistics showing African Americans are dying from the coronavirus at disproportionate rates in states across the country. According to New York Magazine, African Americans in Georgia make up 52% of the coronavirus-related deaths, but only 33% of the population.

Despite the statistics, Kemp has reopened businesses saying the economy needs to be restarted. Kemp has not addressed how he’s going to address the disproportionate effect the coronavirus is having on African Americans.

Now, many are speaking out on social media.

Kemp allowed bowling alleys, tattoo parlors, and nail salons to reopen for in-person business last Friday. By Monday, restaurants were allowed to begin dine-in service.

However, some are choosing to keep their stores closed.

Rapper Killer Mike, who owns a chain of barbershops in Atlanta, said he will keep his stores closed.

“At this time as a business, we aren’t comfortable opening. So we’re going to wait a while before we reopen.” Mike explained that the coronavirus has been hitting the African American community hard and they are the group that his business caters to. “We don’t want our customers and our barbers in danger.”

 

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Georgia Gov. Is Slammed After Coronavirus Study Shows Effect On Blacks

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is taking a lot of heat after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study showing African Americans are suffering gravely from the coronavirus pandemic.

The study, released Wednesday, showed African Americans make up a majority of the 297 coronavirus patients reported in the study. Additionally, although African Americans weren’t more likely than any other group to die from the disease or to require a ventilator, according to the study, 83.2% of the patients with coronavirus were African American.

“That is a very high rate of infections,” Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick, Howard University president who was not involved in the report told NewsOne.

Frederick added the high percentage of African Americans in the study most likely reflects the occupation of the patients.

“A lot of it may come from the fact that African Americans are essential employees in our system,” he said. “Everything from bus drivers to healthcare workers and cleaning services, they are on the front line, and therefore are far more likely to be exposed.”

The statistics of the study line up with national statistics showing African Americans are dying from the coronavirus at disproportionate rates in states across the country. According to New York Magazine, African Americans in Georgia make up 52% of the coronavirus-related deaths, but only 33% of the population.

Despite the statistics, Kemp has reopened businesses saying the economy needs to be restarted. Kemp has not addressed how he’s going to address the disproportionate effect the coronavirus is having on African Americans.

Now, many are speaking out on social media.

Kemp allowed bowling alleys, tattoo parlors, and nail salons to reopen for in-person business last Friday. By Monday, restaurants were allowed to begin dine-in service.

However, some are choosing to keep their stores closed.

Rapper Killer Mike, who owns a chain of barbershops in Atlanta, said he will keep his stores closed.

“At this time as a business, we aren’t comfortable opening. So we’re going to wait a while before we reopen.” Mike explained that the coronavirus has been hitting the African American community hard and they are the group that his business caters to. “We don’t want our customers and our barbers in danger.”

 

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren Calls for an Essential Workers Bill of Rights to Protect Those on the Frontlines Fighting COVID-19

Sen. Elizabeth Warren joined Pastor Michael McBride, the director of LIVE FREE, and CNN host and comedian  W. Kamau Bell for a Facebook Live discussion Wednesday about their Masks for the People campaign and the Essential Workers Bill of Rights.

“Here we are in the middle of a crisis and it turns out that the essential workers in this country are not investment bankers,” said Warren. “The essential workers…are doctors and are nurses — but it so much more. It’s the people that are cleaning the hospitals. It’s the people who are stocking the grocery stores,” she continued. “It’s the people that are making the deliveries and it’s the people who are still going out into people’s home to take care of the elderly.  She argued that these “heroes” deserve more than a “thank you” for putting their lives on the frontlines in the battle against COVID-19. “We owe them full medical protection. That means the masks, the gowns,” she said. “We need to make sure that they are fully protected and that their employers are providing those masks and gowns at no costs to them.”

Sen. Warren co-authored and introduced the Essential Workers Bill of Rights in April. The bill advocates to provide essential workers with health and safety protections, universal paid sick leave, family and medical leave, and support for child care.

“This is ultimately about respect for the people that are putting their lives on the line for us every day,” said the former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. “Stand with essential workers because now is the moment to do this and recognize the importance of human dignity. If somebody is going to put their lives on the line to stock the grocery shelves. They must get hazardous pay.”

Launched on April 6, Masks for the People is sponsored by the nongovernmental organization Live Free and Black Church Action Fund. The campaign aims to secure a supply chain of needed supplies like masks, sanitizers, and coronavirus tests for urban neighborhoods and poor rural communities.

In April, Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey donated $1 million to the Masks for the People humanitarian campaign. The donation will also go toward providing free personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing kits for those who are incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, violence interrupters, essential workers, and the elderly in communities of color.

“Less than a week ago we pulled together an unprecedented coalition of activists, faith leaders, artists and entrepreneurs committed to securing a supply chain of PPE and preventative care for Black and Brown communities,” said Pastor McBride. “Thanks to Dorsey’s generosity, and the generosity of others who have given, we can scale immediately and expand beyond the initial eight to 10 cities. It’s just a blessing.”

Click here to view the full discussion.

 

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Racial Justice and Advocacy Groups Call for Health and Safety Protections for Amazon Workers Amid COVID-19

Dozens of social justice groups are calling on Amazon and other corporate giants to protect their frontline workers after the e-commerce company fired staffers who spoke publicly about their workplace health and safety concerns.

On Thursday, more than 50 advocacy groups signed a solidarity statement to condemn Amazon’s crackdown against whistleblowers who have spoken out about unfair practices during the coronavirus pandemic.  According to a press release sent to BLACK ENTERPRISE, all of the warehouse workers who were fired by Amazon are black.

“Over the last few weeks, Amazon fired at least six workers who had spoken out about unsafe working conditions in warehouses,” reads the statement. “In addition to these firings, other workers at Amazon have reported receiving arbitrary work-related warnings as a result of speaking out or participating in walkouts, and they fear that they are being set-up for termination. Given that Amazon is the second largest private employer in the United States and is significantly expanding its workforce during the crisis, this apparent pattern of retaliation is alarming.”

The joint statement, which was signed by organizations like Color of Change, Public Citizen, Fight for the Future, and United We Dream, called for an expansion of legal protections for workers who call attention to dangerous workplace conditions.

“Workers themselves are in the best position to raise health and safety concerns, and if these concerns are ignored, or worse, if workers are retaliated against, it not only impacts those workers and their families, but risks accelerating the current public health crisis.”

In addition, the statement notes that unfair workplace practices disproportionately affect black and brown people.

“Thousands of warehouse, delivery, and grocery workers are on the front lines of this fight, risking contracting and spreading COVID-19 every day in order to provide essential goods. This risk disproportionately falls on communities of color, who are more likely to hold these jobs and more vulnerable to the virus, as a result of the systemic racism that undermines health in these communities,” it reads.

“Black and brown workers have always been essential for our nation’s economy and public health, but their voices are too often silenced,” said Myaisha Hayes, campaign director at MediaJustice. “During this crisis, Amazon and other employers are willing to make this ‘essential work’ a death sentence for black and brown frontline workers. This blatant disregard for the safety and wellbeing of black and brown bodies is business as usual for Amazon, who already profits from mass surveillance of over-policed communities through their partnerships with ICE and local law enforcement.”

The statement was released on May Day, a global celebration of laborers and the working class also known as International Workers Day. To mark the holiday, employees at large companies including Amazon, Target, and FedEx staged sickouts, walkouts, and other direct actions across the country on Friday.

 

 

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