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Michael Jordan Opens Second Clinic In Charlotte To Combat Healthcare Inequality
MICHAEL JORDAN
Alicia Garza Says FBI Foiled Plot By Suspected White Supremacists Who Had Her Name ‘On A List’
Basketball legend Michael Jordan has evolved into a fierce advocate for healthcare equality and he’s taking his ef- forts to the next level. According to CNN, the NBA Hall of Famer recently opened a new clinic in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The clinic—which is the sec- ond location opened by Jor- dan—was designed to eliminate the socio-economic barriers standing in the way of accessi- bility to quality healthcare. Amid the pandemic, systemic inequities surrounding health- care have been pushed to the forefront of a national conversa- tion and Jordan wants to en- sure that individuals have the support and resources needed to stay safe during this unprece- dented time. The facility— dubbed the Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Medical Clinic—houses an X-ray room, exam rooms and areas for phys- ical therapy. Insurance isn’t a requirement for individuals seeking treatment. Jordan un- veiled the first clinic in Char- lotte in October 2019 and to
date, the medical facility has served over 3,000 people and distributed more than 13,000 COVID-19 tests during the pub- lic health crisis.
Jordan—who donated $7 million to Novant Health in 2017—says he’s grateful to wit- ness the effort evolve and drive change in Charlotte communi- ties. “It makes me want to con- tinue doing more so that we can keep answering the bell when the bell is ringing,” he said in a statement, according to the news outlet. “When we came to- gether to mark the first clinic’s opening last fall, no one could have predicted we would be fac- ing a global pandemic just five months later. I’m so proud of the positive impact our clinic has had on the community so far, especially during COVID- 19.”
Initiatives like the one being led by Jordan are needed, es- pecially in North Carolina. A U. S. Census Bureau report showed in 2018 more than 1 million res- idents in the state were unin- sured.
One of the co-founders of the Black Lives Matters move- ment says she was notified by federal authorities about a pos- sible violent plot targeting her. Alicia Garza tweeted Friday afternoon about the potential threat to her life and others and used it as a rallying call for voters to help get Donald Trump out of the White House.
The news followed recent reports of foiled plans to kid- nap governors and overthrow state governments just days ahead of a presidential election that has a nation braced for an outpouring of anger no matter who wins.
Garza, who along with Pa- trisse Cullors and Opal Tometi founded Black Lives Matter in 2013, tweeted that the FBI paid her a visit to tell her the federal law enforce- ment agency had arrested a suspected white supremacist
ALICIA GARZA
who was armed and has her name on a list.
“They arrested a man in Idaho on weapons charges who they believe was affiliated with white supremacist groups,” Garza tweeted. “They found
my name on a list in his home, alongside others.”
There were no details about who else was on the list and what the people on the list had in common, if anything. But the news seemed to be the latest instance of the president — who infamously refused to denounce white supremacy and called on a far-right group with a history of violence to “stand by” during a debate ear- lier this month — inspiring vig- ilantes to plot politically motivated violence.
Garza made that same connection in a subsequent tweet that blamed Trump for the apparent threat against her life.
“This is why this President is so dangerous,” Garza tweeted in part. “He is stoking fires he has no intention of controlling.”
She said she was “ok” but the circumstances were not.
U. S. Ice Officers 'Used Torture To Make Africans Sign Own Deportation Orders'
Protesters rally against Ice outside City Hall in Seattle. Human rights advocates says there has been a significant ac- celeration of deportations linked to the possibility that Ice could soon be under new management.
U. S. immigration officers allegedly tortured Cameroon- ian asylum seekers to force them to sign their own depor- tation orders, in what lawyers and activists describe as a bru- tal scramble to fly African mi- grants out of the country in the run-up to the elections.
Many of the Cameroonian migrants in a Mississippi de- tention centre refused to sign, fearing death at the hands of Cameroonian government forces responsible for wide- spread civilian killings, and be- cause they had asylum hearings pending.
According to multiple ac- counts, detainees were threat- ened, choked, beaten, pepper-sprayed and threat- ened with more violence to make them sign. Several were put in handcuffs by Immigra- tion and Customs Enforce- ment (Ice) officers, and their fingerprints were taken
forcibly in place of a signature on documents called stipulated orders of removal, by which the asylum seekers waive their rights to further immigration hearings and accept deporta- tion.
Lawyers and human rights advocates said there had been a significant acceleration of de- portations in recent weeks, a trend they see as linked to the looming elections and the pos- sibility that Ice could soon be under new management.
“The abuse we are witness- ing, especially right now against black immigrants, isn’t new, but it is escalating,” said Christina Fialho, executive
director of an advocacy group, Freedom for Immigrants (FFI). “In late September, early October of this year, we began to receive calls on our hotline from Cameroonian and Con- golese immigrants detained in Ice prisons across the country. And they were being subjected to threats of deportation, often accompanied by physical abuse.”
“The reality is that Ice op- erates in the shadows. They thrive in secrecy,” Fialho added. “We know that the U. S. government is deporting key witnesses in an effort to silence survivors and absolve Ice of legal liability.”
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