Page 5 - Florida Sentinel 4-23-21

Editorial
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Local
National Black Child Development Institute Elects New President
TAMARA SHAMBURGER President
POSTMASTER: Send Address Change To: Florida Sentinel Bulletin,
P.O. Box 3363 Tampa, FL 33601 Periodical Postage Paid At Tampa, FL
C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
Former Hillsborough County School Board mem- ber Tamara Shamburger has taken the lead as Presi- dent of the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) Greater Tampa Bay affiliate. The focus is to help improve and advance the quality of life for Black chil- dren and families through education and advocacy in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties.
For more than 50 years, NBCDI has been at the fore- front of engaging leaders, policymakers, professionals, and parents around critical and timely issues that di- rectly impact Black children and their families. BCDI- Greater Tampa Bay was offi- cially chartered on September 22, 2016, by founding members Louis A. Finney, Delquanda Turner, Evelyn McFad- den, Neville Clarke, Jr.,
Florida Politics
DR. DAPHNE FUDGE Vice President, Hillsborough County
Canaan McCaslin, Dr. Daphne Fudge, and Ebonee White.
While the needs are great in the Tampa Bay Area, Shamburger hopes to focus on three key areas: Im- proving the experience of Black Children in Education, Family and Community en- gagement (in improving the lives of Black children), and Advocacy in promoting the fair and equitable treatment of Early Childhood Providers.
Shamburger is joined by Dr. Daphne Fudge, Vice President (Hillsbor- ough), Psychologist and owner of Your 1 Resource Training Institute, which specializes in Child Care training services and behav- ior management for children.
Dr. Ricardo Davis will serve as Vice President (Pinellas), where he also serves as President of Con-
DR. RICARDO DAVIS Vice President, Pinellas
cerned Organization for Quality Education of Black Students, Inc. (COQEBS), Vice Chair of Pinellas County Unified Personnel Board, and Chair of the Citizens Ad- visory Committee, South St. Petersburg Community Re- development Area.
Shamburger stressed that improving the quality of life for Black children and families is a priority and re- quires intentional focus on eliminating longstanding, systemic, and structural bar- riers that have stagnated progress in our community.
Shamburger encour- ages those with the desire and capacity to make change in our community to partner with NBCDI and become a part of positive change in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties. For more informa- tion, please send an email:NBCDITTampaBay@g mail.com.
Media Is Not The Enemy
hink about it. If it had not been for the media, we
never would have known the true story about George Floyd’s death, Briana Taylor’s murder, nor any of the other incidents of death by cops. Indeed, Presi- dent Donald Trump could have been successful in the at- tempted coup of the United States government this past January.
How would we have known the seriousness of the Coronavirus that President Trump refused to tell us if the media hadn’t exposed it? In fact, many people in leadership positions would be more secretive and uneth- ical except for whistleblowers and the media.
The attempt by national leaders to sow distrust, ani- mosity, and hate toward journalists and news outlets with allegations of “fake news,” manufactured evidence and other negative descriptions provide an atmosphere of distraction while they do indeed do what the media accuses them.
It is regrettable that BLM protesters have started to target journalists during the protests. Moreover, the trend for major news outlets to attack other news outlets under the guise of protecting the behavior of unethical and conspiratorial leaders and business CEOs is a dan- gerous shift toward the media becoming partisan and promotional of political candidates and political ideolo- gies.
Current issues and news content flooding media out- lets today about pollution of our air and water and seas, dying coral reefs, manatees and elephants, dangerous chemical spills, assaults on voting rights, Black Lives Matter, police shootings, as well as international news, global warming, hate group activities and groups, inhu- mane working conditions, recalls of medicine and household products, the Chauvin trial and daily Coron- avirus updates, would pass below our radar were it not for credible media updates coverage,
Therefore, we caution our readers not to consider the media as an enemy. Without the media, Jim Crow and discrimination would still be the American rule of law, there would be no democracy in the United States of America and the Civil Rights Movement would not have spread across the country.
The media is a friend to the general public. Support your local media. Anything else is fake news.
DeSantis Signs Bill Allowing Drivers To Run Down Protesters
Ron DeSantis, the mini-Trump, has signed into law a highly controversial bill that grants civil immunity to people driving over protesters who are blocking the road.
In the HB1 bill, Florida it defines a riot as a public disturbance involving three or more people who, in their opinion, are committing disorderly conduct.
Obviously, this is a Republican-only bill as it curtails the right of Americans to protest.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who has been critical of the law, said the bill was fast-tracked and bypassed the accountability of numerous Senate committees.
“This isn’t a game. This Governor and his Republican allies love to talk about the Constitution while shredding it with extreme legislation like HB 1,” Fried said. “Silencing the speech of those seek- ing equality is straight from the Communist regime playbook. The criminal aspects of this bill are al- ready illegal. HB 1 protects no one, makes no one safer, and does nothing to make people’s lives better. It’s simply to appease the Governor’s delusion of widespread lawlessness, and it’s frightening to imag- ine the lengths to which he’ll go to strip away rights and freedoms for political gain. The message from this Governor and his enablers is loud and clear: if you disagree with him, you will be silenced.”
Under this law, Republicans in charge could determine that Heather Heyer's murder at the hands of a neo-Nazi during a counter-protest in Charlottesville could go unpunished.
This is more legislation designed to quell the rights of the American people to gather and protest.
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