Stop Jumping on Every Bandwagon

 

Dear Fellow Black Folks and Well Meaning White Folks,

I think we can all agree that the Derek Chauvin GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS was a VICTORY for the majority of us, not only in this country---but around the world.  No one will ever forget seeing Chauvin's knee on the neck of George Floyd for more than 9 minutes as he cried out for his mama and yelling "I can't breathe!"  The image of Chauvin kneeling nonchalantly on Floyd's neck will be edged into our minds forever.  

Meanwhile, just hours before the Chauvin verdict, police in nearby Brooklyn Center, MN shot and killed a 20-year-old black man named Duante Wright, whose crime at the time was having an expired registration tag.  The police officer, Kim Potter, claimed she was going for her taser but pulled out her Glock 9mm handgun and fatally shot him.  There have been stories circulating about whether or not there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest on aggravated robbery charges, which USA Today clearly determined was FALSE. There has been a lot of disinformation about the young man.  My point here is if he didn't have an expired registration tag, perhaps he wouldn't have been a target that day.  We should not be giving the "trigger-happy" police a reason to stop us because we know they will and if they believe they are justified, they will surely do it and then all hell is likely to break loose.

Next, we have 13-year-old Adam Toledo, who was gunned down while running away from the police in Chicago. The video in that case seems to show him dropping something on the ground right before he turned around to put his hands up. Police and the media claim it was a gun.  My question is: If it was,  what was a 13-year-old doing with a gun?  Who gave it to him and why was he out during the wee hours of the morning on March 29th? 

Then we have 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant of Columbus. OH who was gunned down by Officer Nicholas Reardon, who was responding to a call about someone with a knife threatening bodily harm to another.  Now this case doesn't sit well with me.  There are too many unanswered questions that I haven't heard responses to.  For example:  Who made the 9-1-1 call to report the incident?  Family members say it was the deceased, however, that has not yet been determined.  You may say it doesn't matter who made the call.  The fact of the matter is a young girl is dead at the hands of the police.  While I agree with you, I'm looking at it differently.  The video I saw clearly shows she had a knife and was lunging at someone.  If the person she had been trying to stab was my daughter or grandson, I would be grateful that their lives had been spared.  Once again, we don't know all of the facts but many of us are up in arms over the fact that a cop killed an "innocent child" who had her whole life ahead of her.

My question is:  why was this child in a foster home when her mother was living in the same area?  Why did she feel the need to defend herself with a knife?  What led up to the confrontation?  Various media outlets are putting their spin on the situation and family members only want you to know she was "smart" "loving" and an "honor roll student" but no one knows for sure except Ma'Khia (who can't tell us) and the other parties involved (who may be reluctant to talk or may try to sway public opinion their way).

Unfortunately, we are now living in a world where so much unreliable information is being spread and because of the state of the country, we are sucked into the drama.  We are demanding police departments be defunded and every cop who shoots a black victim go to jail for life (or receive a death sentence).  The truth of the matter is, not every person who gets shot by the police is innocent.  Just like there are bad cops, there are bad people who commit violent crimes without regard to the lives of others.

And then we have some gold-digging family members who grieve for the sake of a GoFundMe page.  Dear White people:  Don't let your bleeding heart liberalism make you foolishly open up your wallets to support a not so worthy cause.  Perhaps those family members should've thought about the value and importance of life insurance.

Now I know this is not going to be a popular post among many and I will be criticized for not being down for the Black Lives Matter Movement, but I just want to state for the record, I'm not prepared to jump on EVERY bandwagon until I have all the facts.  Perhaps, that's the true journalist in me.  

The Havoc of the Pandemic on Your Finances

 

A new survey indicates many Americans believe the pandemic has seriously altered their financial situation, which may force them to delay their retirement or not be able to retire at all.    

When news of the COVID-19 wildfire started spreading out of control across the country, many businesses were forced to shut down. As a result, millions of us lost our jobs. (I was one of them). Even though unemployment benefits were made available it didn't prove to be enough to make ALL ends meet for some families.  When you're trying to live off of $600/week with more than $3000/month in household expenses, it can be more than challenging.  Meanwhile, GOP lawmakers were busy complaining about how some people were making more money by collecting an unemployment check than they did on their jobs. (Perhaps if they raised the minimum wage to something people can actually live off of, no one would give a damn about unemployment!)  

According to the survey, 1 in 5 people say the pandemic has forced them to delay their retirement or no longer retire at all.  The study also found that nearly 30 percent of Americans have saved less or stopped saving for retirement all together because they lost their job or another reason.  Nearly 40 percent say they have or will likely withdraw money from their retirement plan.  

The survey also reveals the fact that younger adults have struggled with navigating their finances the most:  62 percent of millennials and 51 percent of Gen Xers say the pandemic has made their finances more complicated and is forcing them to re-think the priorities in their lives.  On the other hand, just 27 percent of baby boomers say they are facing financial challenges.

In another survey conducted by Pew Research, the picture was even more bleak:

1 in 4 adults say they have trouble paying their monthly bills. 35 percent of adults ages 18 to 29 and 30 percent of those ages 30 to 49 say they have had trouble paying their bills. This compares with 22 percent of those ages 50 to 64 and 10 percent of those 65 and older. 

1 in 6 adults say they have borrowed money from family or friends or gotten food from a food bank. 

Blacks make up 40 percent of those who say they used money from their savings or retirement to pay monthly household expenses, compared to just 29 percent of whites.

28 percent of Blacks said they had problems paying their rent or mortgage, compared to 11 percent of whites.   

Some economists are saying it could take up to four years to fully recover from the pandemic.  What do you think?  Do you think we'll ever fully recover?