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Has it only been a week, because it seems like it’s been so much longer. Well, here’s how things are in Alabama in regards to the pandemic. Alabama’s Department of Health is temporarily only updating their Dashboard for COVID-19 cases once a day instead of the twice a day they were previously doing. So, as of 10:00 a.m. Thursday, there were 18,766 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 651 people now having died. From last week that’s an increase of 2,236 who have tested positive and 60 more people who have tragically lost their lives. While these are unacceptably high numbers, they’re a little lower than last week’s. There have been many in-person high school graduations in the last couple of weeks, and of course the protests and demonstrations resulting from the recent murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd. It will be weeks before we find out how these events will affect the spreading of the virus. There’s been two protests in my city since 5/31, both of which had several hundred peaceful demonstrators, the majority wearing masks. There’s another scheduled for this weekend and hopefully this will be peaceful as well.
I’ve been posting extensively this past week regarding the recent murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd, as well as the resulting mass protests. The following impassioned speech given by activist Curtis Hayes, encapsulates three generations of the pain and anger of Blacks in this country.
Mr. Trump and his supporters like to use slogans like Make America Great Again, and Keep America Great. My question is: great for who? There are so many in our country that have suffered and continue to be oppressed, and things have never been great for them. While there have been many protests over the years demanding equality, this time, it feels different. At least to me it does, but then I’m a 55-year-old white woman who has never had to worry about racial profiling or being killed because of the color of my skin. Obviously the road ahead is long, and there is no one easy answer. However, when I see that as of two days ago 15 of the top 20 Amazon bestsellers are about race, racism, and white supremacy, that gives me hope. Advocates say that if you want to be an ally to marginalized people, the first thing to do is to learn about their oppression and your role in sustaining that. Given that many books are already out of stock, it seems like people are doing that. Here’s the link to their page if you’re interested.
https://www.amazon.com/best-sellers-books-Amazon/zgbs/books
We’ll have to see if the momentum continues. I hope to God it does, because it’s unacceptable for the status quo to continue.
I’d like to share three positivities this week. This first video is coverage of some creative Black Lives Matter protests that you may not have seen.
This second video is of Maoris in New Zealand performing a Haka in honor of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter.
And last, but certainly not least, Ella Jones was elected as Ferguson, Missouri’s first black mayor Tuesday night. Ferguson, which in 2014 became the epicenter of a nationwide firestorm after a white police officer killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown. The protests that followed helped consolidate the Black Lives Movement. Jones is a chemist and church pastor who has served on Ferguson’s city council since 2015.
And that’s a wrap for me. How are all of you?
By Hook Or By Book 
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