‘Trump Death Clock’ In Times Square Grim Reminder Of Preventable Coronavirus Deaths

A digital billboard in Times Square showing the number of deaths related to President Donald Trump’s slow coronavirus response, reached a grave milestone on Wednesday, as it ticked over to an estimated 50,000 preventable deaths.

According to Yahoo Finance, the “Trump Death Clock” projects the number of deaths that could have been prevented had social distancing measures been implemented earlier.

Eugene Jarecki, the sign’s creator, said the counter was created with the same “symbolic spirit” as the National Debt Clock, which already hangs in New York City. The Death Clock measures “the cost in human lives of President Trump and his team’s reckless handling of the coronavirus pandemic,” Jarecki told Yahoo.

Science and health experts began warning the Trump Administration of the coronavirus pandemic in January. The warnings fell on deaf ears, however, as Trump called the coronavirus a Democratic hoax.

Trump continued to downplay the coronavirus at the end of February, and even into March he compared it to “the common flu.”

As U.S. coronavirus deaths reached 85,00 Wednesday, the death clock showed more than 57,000 deaths could’ve been prevented. Jarecki said instead of saving lives, the president played politics and the counter reflects that.

“Reports show that as early as January, the president was advised by both his own experts and the intelligence services of the need for urgent measures against the spread of the virus,” Jarecki wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post. “Instead, he engaged in pretty political feuds and pollyannish predictions minimizing its significance. Finally, on March 16, he reversed his previously dismissive stance and announced ‘new guidelines for every American to follow.'”

By March 16, the U.S. was leading the world in the infection rate, major sports had been cancelled for almost a week and the stock market was falling fast.

Jarecki told Yahoo, he hopes “the lives already unnecessarily lost demand we seek more responsible crisis leadership.

“Just as the names of fallen soldiers are etched on memorials to remind us of the cost of war, quantifying the lives lost to the president’s delayed coronavirus response would serve a vital public function,” he added.

In addition to almost 100,000 deaths, the coronavirus pandemic has killed ten years of job growth in one month and put many minorities and low-income Americans at risk of losing their lives.

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Virginia Legislative Black Caucus Says Reopening State Would Treat Black and Brown People Like Guinea Pigs

The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus has sent a letter to Gov. Ralph Northam saying the move to reopen Virginia would be treating black and brown people like “guinea pigs for our economy.”

According to NewsOne, Virginia is slowly reopening the state with the first phase occurring on Friday. However, the black caucus believes the state doesn’t have the necessary testing capacity and infrastructure to safely reopen without putting minorities at an unfair risk.

“Throughout our country’s history, Black and Brown people have been experimented on and used as unwilling test subjects before — we cannot allow that to be repeated here,” the letter states.

In many states across the country including Virginia, African Americans and minorities are dying at a faster rate than white Americans.

Minorities are at a higher risk of being infected and dying of coronavirus due to low-wage jobs that don’t allow them to telecommute. Additionally, low-wage workers have to interact with strangers as part of their job.

Northam said his decision to open the state is based on positive trends in key metrics related to the virus’ spread, like testing capacity and hospital readiness. At a press conference on Wednesday, Northam downplayed the state’s reopening saying, “Phase one represents a small step forward.”

After two weeks of debate by state lawmakers, Northam’s plan will reopen retail businesses with limited capacity. Barbershops and hair salons will be by appointment only and both customers and employees have to wear face masks. Restaurants will continue to allow delivery orders and bowling alleys, theme parks, gyms, and beaches in the state will remain closed.

Northam’s spokesperson, Alena Yarmosky, told reporters the governor is “absolutely committed to moving forward in a gradual manner that protects all Virginians, particularly low-income individuals, essential workers, and communities of color.”

However, Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax has asked Northam to create a task force to track racial disparities in coronavirus pandemic in the state.

Some African American business owners have decided to stay closed, even as their states begin to open. Rapper Killer Mike, who owns several barbershops in Atlanta, said in April that even though Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said Atlanta businesses could reopen, he would keep his shops closed.

“As a citizen in the community where people look like me, I’m choosing to stay closed because I don’t want to endanger [anybody],” he said in April. “And a lot of times, politicians have different views of things. I think governors and mayors should all get on the phone together because as your constituents, we need you to do that.”

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Rapper E-40 gifts 1,000 gallons of hand sanitizer to California prisons

Men and women behind bars are particularly vulnerable during the coronavirus pandemic, so Rapper E-40 stepped up to help mitigate the risks by donating 1,000 gallons of hand sanitizer to California prisons.

READ MORE: Ludacris and Nelly are set for the next Verzuz battle and fans are already taking sides 

Thursday, the rapper, who is a Bay Area native, made the big announcement on Instagram by posting a video showing the sanitizer being produced and packaged for delivery to the prisons.

E-40, who is an investor in several wine and spirits brands, donates 1,000 gallons of hand sanitizer to Lompoc & San Quentin State Prison,” read the straight forward caption accompanying the clip.

 

View this post on Instagram

E-40 donates 1,000 gallons of hand sanitizer to Lompoc & San Quentin State Prison

A post shared by E40 Hip-Hop Mogul 🎩 (@e40) on May 14, 2020 at 11:32am PDT

 

After learning of a COVID-19 outbreak at San Quentin and Lompoc prisons in California, the rap icon said he wanted to do his part.

“As you know, hand sanitizer is made with alcohol, and I sell dope beverages so I know many distillers all over the country,” the rapper told ABC7 News. “I said let me get 1,000 gallons and send them to San Quentin and Lompoc. I hope that it makes a good impact.”

Fellow Bay Area native, NFL running back Marshawn Lynch, who last played with the Seattle Seahawks, also made a donation to the Santa Rita jail.

 

View this post on Instagram

A big THANK YOU and shoutout to Marshawn Lynch (Beast Mode) and Kevin Parker from the Barbershop Forum for these cases of hand sanitizer for inmates who are currently in custody at Santa Rita Jail.

A post shared by Alameda Co. Sheriff's Office (@alamedacountysheriff) on May 14, 2020 at 1:47pm PDT

 

Back in March, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the mayor’s office of criminal justice was working to protect those in custody who are at high risk of becoming infected after a prisoner at Rikers Island tested positive for COVID-19. Several states have also announced the early release of inmates, as well as an intentional, reduction in new arrests to curb the spread of the virus.

According to Buzzfeed, in Los Angeles County, the prison population shrunk from 17,076 inmates to 16,459 in about two weeks. Their report notes in the Los Angeles County Jails, dozens of inmates are in quarantine across three locations after showing symptoms of COVID-19.

READ MORE: ‘Just Mercy’ campaign launches COVID-19 fund to help the incarcerated

As high-profile prisoners like Tekashi 6ix9ine continue to get granted early release due to health concerns, more and more political leaders and advocates are calling for the same precautionary measures when it comes to non-violent offenders.

At the forefront of this fight is the Last Prisoner Project—a nonprofit organization dedicated to freeing inmates convicted of nonviolent marijuana crimes— which has recently launched an initiative that it believes will help slow the spread of COVID-19 behind bars.

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Comedian Sarah Cooper goes viral with TikTok lip-sync of Donald Trump

Sarah Cooper didn’t anticipate she’d go viral on TikTok. Eight of the platforms top ten most followed are young, white, and either singers or dancers, some of whom have built a following through other platforms.

READ MORE: HBO drops trailer for ‘Yvonne Orji: Momma, I Made It!’ comedy special

Cooper, a 35-year-old Jamaican-born author and comedian best known for her books “100 Tricks To Appear Smart In Meetings” and “How To Be Succesful Without Hurting Men’s Feelings” isn’t the channel’s main demographic, but she found something that struck a chord with its viewers.

Her lip-sync of the infamous Donald Trump press conference when he suggested ingesting bleach and getting UV light inside people’s bodies to help them fight coronavirus brought Cooper 16 million views on the social media platform.

 

How to medical pic.twitter.com/0EDqJcy38p

— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) April 24, 2020

“It is interesting because as a writer you want to heighten how ridiculous things are. But everything he says is already so ridiculous that it is hard to heighten it,” Cooper told The Guardian.

Whether its the spot-on mannerisms and the perfect timing of the lip-syncing we don’t know but TikTok viewers (and news anchor Lawrence O’Donnell) loved it.

“I feel like we’ve been gaslighted for years, being told it is totally normal for a president to say things like this,” Cooper added. “It is a very validating thing to see something remind you that, no, this is actually ridiculous and we can all agree on that.”

Since then, Cooper has also lip-synced to the president’s discussion of vice-presidential aide Katie Miller’s positive test for COVID-19.

 

How to testing pic.twitter.com/y9iwLK0N12

— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) May 9, 2020

On April 23, at his then-daily coronavirus briefing, the president suggested that he’d had discussions with scientists that included possibly injecting people with disinfectant and getting UV light inside their bodies that drew not just derision, but responses from both the Surgeon General and the makers of Lysol.

“I see disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute, and is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning,” Trump told the assembled media. “Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it’d be interesting to check that. So you’re going to have to use medical doctors, but it sounds interesting to me. So, we’ll see. But the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute, that’s pretty powerful.”

Trump later said he was being ‘sarcastic.’

READ MORE: YouTube comedy series ‘In My Head’ focuses on reality vs. expectations

You can watch the original speech here:

 

“As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route),” the makers of Lysol and Dettol said in a statement.

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Twitter CEO Backs Mayvenn’s #SaveTheSalon Campaign to Give $500 to Struggling Hair Stylists

The global COVID-19 pandemic has turned the world upside down, hitting black communities across the country the hardest. As a result, hair salons and barbershops, which are staples in the African American community, are suffering in unprecedented ways. According to Mayvenn.com, black consumers spend over $10 billion each year for haircare products and salon services. However, many of these small businesses are facing economic hardships due to mandatory closures and state-ordered stay-at-home measures.

To help struggling stylists, Mayvenn, a black-owned tech company that empowers hairstylists in the African American community, launched the #SaveTheSalon campaign via GoFundMe. The goal is to raise $2 million and distributed $500 each to 4,000 Mayvenn stylists.

“We recognize the overall cracks in our economic systems often put black stylists into vulnerable positions, with or without COVID-19,” said Diishan Imira, the founder and CEO of Mayvenn, in a statement. “Mayvenn is exploring not only how to support stylists in this difficult moment, but to be a better partner in the long term.”

A number of philanthropists are backing the #SaveTheSalon campaign, including Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s #startsmall initiative, donors Ben and Felicia Horowitz, Libra/the Pritzker Family, and The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation. Each has pledged to donate $10 for every $1 raised by the community up to $1 million. Mayvenn, itself, has committed to donating $100,000.

“Helping stylists is at the core of who we are and what our mission has been since day one. I take it as a personal responsibility to do what I can for the stylist community during this crisis,” said Imira. “This money is coming to them at a critical moment, and we’re asking for the support of the community to raise the rest so we can continue to provide this much-needed assistance.”

Founded in 2012, Mayvenn uses technology to help generate revenue for stylists by connecting them with new clients and helping them sell products. According to the statement, Mayvenn has paid out over $20 million in commissions and booking income to stylists over the past five years.

“These are difficult times for all of us. But in difficult times, we find opportunities to come together, support each other, and make it through,” said Imira, adding, “Hairstylists make us look and feel good so that we can tackle the world with confidence—now, it’s our turn to give them that same energy.”

Mayvenn, which is valued at $111 million, raised $36 million as of 2019 from a number of investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Essence Ventures, Serena Williams, Steve Stoute, Andre Iguodala, Jimmy Irvine, Cross Culture Ventures, Trinity Ventures, Impact America, and Core VC.

 

 

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