theroot--2020-05-14--Sanctuary for the Devil: The Church Service That Birthed a COVID-19 Outbreak and the Black Women Who

Sanctuary for the Devil: The Church Service That Birthed a COVID-19 Outbreak and the Black Women Who Fought It

But as he sped through the rural roads near West Virginia ’ s Marion County-Monongalia County line , he had no idea he was headed in the devil ’ s direction .
Armand didn ’ t even know where he was going .
Armand had already officiated the morning service for his congregation at Mt .
Zion Missionary Baptist Church in neighboring Clarksburg , West Virginia .
He was rushing to preach at Rev .
Laverna Horton ’ s sixth-anniversary service at Friendship Baptist Church in Everettville on March 15 .
Armand ’ s wife , three daughters and 10 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and had already squeezed into Friendship ’ s crowded sanctuary for one of the most important traditions in his religious community .
“ In the black Baptist church , there are two high celebrations , ” Armand told The Root .
“ The first is the church anniversary and the second is the pastor ’ s anniversary ...
So you had churches from the tri-counties converge on her church to pat her on the back , to celebrate her , to eat with her ...
It ’ s what we do .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the black church.
” Aside from being lost , at that point , Pastor Armand had no idea that asymptomatic carriers could still spread the coronavirus .
West Virginia Gov .
Jim Justice had not yet issued a stay-at-home order .
In fact , as the pastor crept through the West Virginia countryside and the coronavirus crisscrossed the country , the state would not report a single case of the virus for another two weeks .
All he knew was that he was late .
Armand did not make it in time to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As he pulled into the church ’ s overcrowded parking lot , he observed 100 to 120 worshipers trickle out of a cramped building that was meant to hold 75 , at best .
He greeted his church members who attended the service .
He watched as members from Morning Star Baptist—of one of the region ’ s biggest black congregations—helped the elderly woman affectionately known as Sister Horton climb into Morning Star Baptist ’ s church van .
Sister Horton never missed an afternoon service and , even though she was one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she still sang on the choir .
Two weeks later , on March 29 , 88-year-old Viola York Horton would become the first West Virginian to die from COVID-19 .
Less than 24 hours after that fateful church service , Gov .
Justice would issue a proclamation restricting gatherings of more than 10 or more people .
But on March 15 , as Sister Horton sang her last hymn , no one had a clue that a virus , which attendees would repeatedly refer to as “ the devil himself , ” was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was so scarce , Horton ’ s family wouldn ’ t know for days that this cruel contagion caused her demise .
Pastor Armand was not aware that one of his congregants would soon test positive .
He did not know that a microscopic deliverer of death was preparing to tear through his community like an unleashed demon .
“ Had I known there was even the possibility of a single person becoming infected , I definitely would have refrained from going and would have advised my congregants to not be in attendance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ knew that something was brewing , but at that time , West Virginia was not reporting any cases .
We haven ’ t heard anything from the governor .
“ So we are looking as the rest of the country is covered in red and we ’ re still in white , wondering , ” Armand added .
“ We were wondering : Has God done something to protect West Virginia ?
” He did not know .
John Denver called West Virginia “ almost heaven , ” a phrase that sparked an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tourism council .
While West Virginians believed their pastoral existence protected them from the then-burgeoning global pandemic that hit more urban areas , their state still has the fourth-highest poverty rate , the second-lowest life expectancy and the highest drug overdose rate in America .
The state also ranks among the worst 20 states for teen birth rates ( 45th ) , violent crime ( 31st ) and education ( 44th ) .
However , with all its problems , the state actually has one redeeming , top 10 attribute : West Virginia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it the third-whitest state in the country .
Marion County is even whiter .
Tucked into the northern part of the Mountain State , the rural county is 92.9 percent white .
Still , Marion County ’ s tiny black population is close-knit and deeply religious , often uniting to worship together at one of the area ’ s black churches for Sunday afternoon services .
The state has also managed to escape the coronavirus epidemic that has been ravaging America .
It has tested a larger percentage of its citizens than 37 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has one of the lowest infection rates in the nation .
If you ’ re black in West Virginia , you ’ re twice as likely to test positive for the coronavirus .
And , as of Monday , May 5 , data from the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health , 52.17 percent of Marion County residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 were black ; an astounding number , considering that the county is only 3.3 percent black .
Those numbers are not right .
The Root has reviewed mounds of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conducted interviews with residents who live in Marion County and the surrounding area .
The number of black people infected in the area is unquestionably higher .
Furthermore , health officials , activists , politicians all told The Root that nearly every single case of COVID-19 in Marion and Monongalia Counties ’ black population can be traced back to that jam-packed March 15 service at Friendship Baptist Church , a fact backed up by state and county data .
COVID-19 is tearing through Marion County at an appalling rate .
Even worse , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a disastrous public health crisis ; the victims were left to fight this pandemic on their own—until a handful of fearless first responders stepped in to save this small black community .
No , the saviors were not doctors or nurses .
In fact , none of them had any healthcare expertise .
They were the other kind of “ essential ” workers who are used to being on the front lines : Of course , it was black women who saved the day .
Romelia Hodges had to know .
Hodges , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ( the county seat of Marion County ) , was watching the COVID-19 pandemic from the beginning .
One of the reasons she was so adamant about protecting her community was because of a rare immunodeficiency called Volga anemia , a blood disorder common in the Volga River region of Russia .
The illness is so rare in the U.S. that about a dozen people in the entire country suffer from the illness .
Three of them live in Romelia Hodges ’ home .
Experts from the Mayo Clinic , Johns Hopkins @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Patrick , with the uncommon disorder years ago , when a mystery illness landed him on life support at 25 years old .
After unraveling the medical mystery , researchers informed the couple that Volga anemia was genetic and had been passed to their two sons .
Knowing that a bout with the coronavirus could prove deadly to her family , Hodges had been watching the COVID-19 pandemic unfold with a particularly personal interest .
She had stocked her home with oxygen , homeopathic remedies and disinfectant .
“ I ’ m @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to take this man into the hospital with respiratory distress , I am never going to see him again , ” Hodges told The Root , thinking of her husband ’ s immunodeficiency .
“ He knew this and I knew this.
” Hodges attended the March 15 service with her 10-year-old daughter , who performed with a liturgical dance troupe at the service .
Hodges was aware that the coronavirus was ravaging the country but assumed it had not yet reached the part of the country where she lived .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time , was in a false sense of reality .
That ’ s what I like to call it because we didn ’ t have any cases , ” Hodges explained .
“ Our governor and President Trump were kind of touting that .
But we were in a false sense of reality because the reason that we didn ’ t have any cases was because we only had 150 tests in the whole state , and they weren ’ t doing any testing ...
They were making it very , very difficult @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beautiful , beautiful pastor ’ s anniversary , one of the most blessed that I ’ ve been at , to be honest with you , ” Hodges noted .
“ And the interesting thing about this is this is a tiny church .
This is one of—if it ’ s not the—smallest churches in our region .
I would almost bet on it.
” Among one of Hodges ’ many community activities was running a private Facebook page called Fairmont Alliance of Minorities ( FAM ) , dedicated to erasing the disparities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
By March 20 , Hodges began to notice that friends , neighbors and fellow churchgoers were starting to exhibit COVID-19 symptoms and decided to alert the community of a possible community spread .
On the same day , Hodges placed a call to Marion County Health Director Lloyd Wright .
Wright , who did not respond to The Root ’ s requests for an interview , offered no assistance , Hodges said .
Meanwhile , other Marion County residents who attended the Sunday service were being turned away by the county health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ informing health officials that they were at the scene of a possible community spread , healthcare workers told them that they needed to show symptoms to get tested .
How could this be state policy if officials knew that asymptomatic people could be COVID-19 carriers ?
The Root has reviewed multiple emails from state and local officials revealing that , at the time , there were only enough supplies for 150 COVID-19 tests for the entire state of West Virginia .
The day after the pastor ’ s anniversary celebration , Hodges watched @ @ @ @ @ @ @ told citizens that he was assured by President Donald Trump that any West Virginian who wanted to get tested could get tested for free .
Hodges would later watch state health authorities dispatch the National Guard and set up mobile testing centers for nursing home residents after the governor proclaimed the elderly to be a “ vulnerable population.
” “ I called Lloyd again a week later , ” said Hodges .
“ I told him , ‘ More and more people are getting sick .
How many people do you need to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you did the nursing home and Morgantown , West Virginia , and bring the National Guard and test our community ?
You know we are being disproportionately affected here and we ’ re not getting the resources and services that we deserve.
’ He hemmed and hawed .
He said , ‘ You know , we would have to send them out the survey .
They have to meet the CDC requirements to be tested , ’ this and that.
” Undeterred , Hodges essentially assembled her own all-star team of black women @ @ @ @ @ @ @ own .
With no official help from local authorities , they used the one resource that never fails : The hookup is legendary in the black community .
Barack Obama called it “ community organizing.
” It ’ s how Harriet Tubman freed the slaves .
In fact , the Underground Railroad was essentially a multi-state system of interconnected hookups .
Hodges and her team of black female saviors may not have been able to wield any power but they had the hookup .
The team included : • Del .
Danielle Walker @ @ @ @ @ @ @ West Virginia ’ s House of Delegates • Tiffany Samuels : A development director for the West Virginia University Cancer Institute , which just happens to also employ Dr. Clay Marsh , the designated “ COVID Czar ” for the tri-county region .
• Terry Berkley : Who happens to work in the office of Sen. Joe Manchin ( D-W. Va. ) The group reached out to the deacons and pastors of all the churches who attended the March 15 service .
The alliance of ministers went back to their congregants and began @ @ @ @ @ @ @ again , with no healthcare expertise ) taught themselves how to do contact tracing .
“ I just researched what they were doing in Cleveland , New York and D.C. ” Hodges told The Root .
“ The tri-county region public health officials have an app that people can use to assist them in social tracing .
They had it the entire time and never made us aware of it .
Danielle [ Walker ] found out about it when she met with delegates.
” When they completed their detective work , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus .
The group ’ s next step was to put a full-court press on state delegates , the COVID czar and local health administrators .
By April 2 , telephones started ringing in black households all over Marion County .
Sen. Joe Manchin had arranged free testing for every single person on the list .
So , as more positive test results came in from Marion County ’ s black population , the state finally took action : They just stopped counting .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but three days after Manchin ’ s office secured testing for black residents in the tri-county area , the Bureau of Public Health discontinued its practice of sharing COVID-19 's racial statistics .
Curiously , as of May 13 , the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Service ’ s COVID-19 site still lists Marion County and neighboring Monongalia County with 36 cases among black residents , which doesn ’ t seem strange , except for one fact : At least 42 individuals on the original list compiled by Hodges ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , have tested positive .
When one combines the number of Marion County ’ s reported positive cases with neighboring counties , the state ’ s racially disaggregated data still does not reflect the true black infection rate .
“ I ’ m still trying to fight for our right to know , ” Del .
Walker explained .
“ We need accessibility , testing and for black and brown people to be included in the vulnerable population .
In West Virginia , the only group that they look at as being a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And I still don ’ t even know how many of the elders or people in the black and brown community are affected and that ’ s not fair.
” Samuels continues her advocacy from the inside , connecting the community with people in the healthcare industry .
She also assists area residents with transportation and access to care .
Samuels is intimately familiar with the lack of access to medical care for one specific reason .
On March 17 , two days after the pastor ’ s anniversary , California-based Alecto @ @ @ @ @ @ @ largest healthcare providers , made an announcement that—in the midst of a global pandemic—stunned Marion County residents , both black and white .
It was closing the Fairmont Regional Medical Center—the only hospital in the area .
“ We need more testing and more targeted testing , ” Samuels explained .
“ Just yesterday , we assisted a gentleman whose brother passed away from COVID-19 , and he was turned away from the testing facility .
He told them that his brother passed away and that he took care of his mother and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still turn him away .
I don ’ t understand it.
” None of the churches in attendance have held in-person services since the March 15 gathering .
He continues to lead the ministers ’ alliance , which has created community-based goals that extend beyond healthcare and has moved his worship services online .
“ The Bible says : “ For lack of knowledge , my people perish , ” Armand recounted .
We were disseminating the knowledge as we received it from on high—the government , the CDC , the experts , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ] to our community .
And without these women being on the case , I don ’ t see how many more would not be affected .
I don ’ t see how many more might not even , I dare say , be dead.
” For her work , Hodges was appointed as a commissioner for the newly created COVID-19 Advisory Commission on African American Disparities by the state ’ s Department of Health and Human Resources .
Finally through with her state ’ s disastrous response to the outbreak , she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family .
And finally , Hodges knew her family was safe .
It was nearly 20 days after the church service , and she had quarantined the entire family since the gathering , so she decided to celebrate her team ’ s accomplishments by taking a relaxing shower with her new haul of scented products from Bath & Body Works .
When Hodges exited the shower , her husband Patrick knew something was wrong by the look on his wife ’ s face .
“ I get out the shower , dripping wet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go over to the bedroom and I say to my husband as I squeezed the bottle at him : ‘ Can you smell this ?
’ And he said , “ No .
But I can smell you !
What , what is your problem ?
” “ So I come down to my desk ... and I pull out a bleach wipe , ” Hodges continues .
“ I have industrial bleach wipes that they use in the hospital and I go to clean off my keyboard and my mouse .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [ I can usually ] smell the bleach that comes out of it .
So I say to my husband : “ I can ’ t smell this bleach bottle.
” While researching the coronavirus earlier , Hodges had already stumbled across an article about Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert , who lost his sense of taste and smell during his battle with COVID-19 .
She recalled all the times that her husband and sons had fallen ill. She looked at the oxygen tanks they had stored around the house for the illness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the area .
But , after a lifetime of tomboy activities , she was diagnosed with seasonal allergies when she was 40 years old .
She prayed that it was allergies and not the coronavirus that made her lose her sense of smell .
Then she started feeling congested .
Then she broke out in the little-known “ COVID rash.
” Then it hit her youngest son .
Her oldest son started feeling symptoms , too .
Then , it hit her husband .
Hodge ’ s story was not over .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ all of the rigamarole with the Marion County Health Department , politicians and health facilities , 18 days after the portentous Friendship Baptist service , Hodges had not yet been tested .
Even though her situation may have been the most precarious of all the parishioners at that service , she was determined not to use one of the precious , limited number of available tests on herself .
Now she was infected with the disease , while still caring for her sick husband and sons .
As Sen. Manchin connected the group @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a testing site , Hodges arranged for transportation for an elderly woman , loaded her husband into the car and went to a separate facility even further away because his immune systems were so compromised .
Hodges was on a conference call with Armand and the ministers ’ alliance and local health officials when she received a call informing her that both she and her husband had tested positive for the coronavirus “ I was shocked , ” Hodges explained .
“ From all indications , even from the CDC , by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this thing .
So being 20 days out and still being positive and I hadn ’ t been in contact with anyone else .
And by that time , my husband was already severely ill .
I knew that there was something very awry about what they were telling us.
” By now , the list of people exposed had grown to 107 people .
Luckily , her hookup team ’ s efforts had managed to get the attention of the people who initially ignored the crisis .
Hodges clicked over from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and informed the ministers and health authorities on the other line that she had tested positive ; they were all shocked .
Of course , the concern may have been because a senator and the governor were now involved , but two specific individuals on the call were dumbfounded by the scope and intensity of this escalating public health crisis and vowed to give her everything she and her group needed ... “ It turned out that my husband took the brunt of it , ” Hodges recounted .
“ We literally fought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eight days .
Not a demon , but the devil himself .
And everything they say about this horrible disease is so true .
It just ravages your body .
We ’ re about 17 days out from his last symptom and it ’ s just a rebuilding process .
You have to rebuild your health from here .
The most difficult part of all this is knowing that I passed it to my household , and that ’ s unfortunate.
” And Hodges and her crew are not done .
Aside from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ task force aimed at eliminating disparities for African American COVID-19 infections , Hodges is still fielding calls from people who need help .
She recently discovered that two more churches had members who attended the fateful service .
Aside from Sister Horton , another person who attended that service also succumbed to the coronavirus .
Shortly after the service , another woman fell ill. She had body aches , chills and eventually lost 25 pounds .
However , when she went to see a physician , she wasn ’ t tested for COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ very remarkable if it happened to anyone else .
But the sick woman just happened to be Rev .
Laverna Horton , who had just celebrated her sixth anniversary as pastor of Friendship Baptist Church .
I heard it was a beautiful service .
Everyone was there ...
Even the devil himself .

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince the world he didn’t exist. — Keyser Soze
Pastor Rahsaan Armand knows the devil exists.
Advertisement
But as he sped through the rural roads near West Virginia’s Marion County-Monongalia County line, he had no idea he was headed in the devil’s direction. Armand didn’t even know where he was going.
Armand had already officiated the morning service for his congregation at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in neighboring Clarksburg, West Virginia. He was rushing to preach at Rev. Laverna Horton’s sixth-anniversary service at Friendship Baptist Church in Everettville on March 15. Armand’s wife, three daughters and 10 of his congregants left before he did and had already squeezed into Friendship’s crowded sanctuary for one of the most important traditions in his religious community.
“In the black Baptist church, there are two high celebrations,” Armand told The Root. “The first is the church anniversary and the second is the pastor’s anniversary...So you had churches from the tri-counties converge on her church to pat her on the back, to celebrate her, to eat with her...It’s what we do. It’s just what we do in the black church.”
Aside from being lost, at that point, Pastor Armand had no idea that asymptomatic carriers could still spread the coronavirus. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice had not yet issued a stay-at-home order. In fact, as the pastor crept through the West Virginia countryside and the coronavirus crisscrossed the country, the state would not report a single case of the virus for another two weeks.
Advertisement
All he knew was that he was late.
Armand did not make it in time to Friendship Baptist to preach the service. As he pulled into the church’s overcrowded parking lot, he observed 100 to 120 worshipers trickle out of a cramped building that was meant to hold 75, at best. He greeted his church members who attended the service. He watched as members from Morning Star Baptist—of one of the region’s biggest black congregations—helped the elderly woman affectionately known as Sister Horton climb into Morning Star Baptist’s church van. Sister Horton never missed an afternoon service and, even though she was one of the oldest members in attendance, she still sang on the choir.
Two weeks later, on March 29, 88-year-old Viola York Horton would become the first West Virginian to die from COVID-19.
Less than 24 hours after that fateful church service, Gov. Justice would issue a proclamation restricting gatherings of more than 10 or more people. But on March 15, as Sister Horton sang her last hymn, no one had a clue that a virus, which attendees would repeatedly refer to as “the devil himself,” was also spreading its gospel. Because testing was so scarce, Horton’s family wouldn’t know for days that this cruel contagion caused her demise. Pastor Armand was not aware that one of his congregants would soon test positive. He did not know that a microscopic deliverer of death was preparing to tear through his community like an unleashed demon.
Advertisement
“Had I known there was even the possibility of a single person becoming infected, I definitely would have refrained from going and would have advised my congregants to not be in attendance,” Armand said. “We knew that something was brewing, but at that time, West Virginia was not reporting any cases. We haven’t heard anything from the governor.
“So we are looking as the rest of the country is covered in red and we’re still in white, wondering,” Armand added. “We were wondering: Has God done something to protect West Virginia?”
He did not know.
Almost Hell
John Denver called West Virginia “almost heaven,” a phrase that sparked an award-winning campaign for the state’s tourism council.
Advertisement
While West Virginians believed their pastoral existence protected them from the then-burgeoning global pandemic that hit more urban areas, their state still has the fourth-highest poverty rate, the second-lowest life expectancy and the highest drug overdose rate in America. The state also ranks among the worst 20 states for teen birth rates (45th), violent crime (31st) and education (44th). However, with all its problems, the state actually has one redeeming, top 10 attribute:
White people.
West Virginia’s 92.0 percent white population makes it the third-whitest state in the country. Marion County is even whiter. Tucked into the northern part of the Mountain State, the rural county is 92.9 percent white. Still, Marion County’s tiny black population is close-knit and deeply religious, often uniting to worship together at one of the area’s black churches for Sunday afternoon services.
Advertisement
The state has also managed to escape the coronavirus epidemic that has been ravaging America. It has tested a larger percentage of its citizens than 37 other states and, luckily, it has one of the lowest infection rates in the nation.
Unless you’re black.
If you’re black in West Virginia, you’re twice as likely to test positive for the coronavirus. And, as of Monday, May 5, data from the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health, 52.17 percent of Marion County residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 were black; an astounding number, considering that the county is only 3.3 percent black.
Advertisement
Those numbers are not right.
The Root has reviewed mounds of emails, read dozens of letters and conducted interviews with residents who live in Marion County and the surrounding area. The number of black people infected in the area is unquestionably higher. Furthermore, health officials, activists, politicians all told The Root that nearly every single case of COVID-19 in Marion and Monongalia Counties’ black population can be traced back to that jam-packed March 15 service at Friendship Baptist Church, a fact backed up by state and county data.
COVID-19 is tearing through Marion County at an appalling rate. Even worse, state and county health officials seemingly ignored a disastrous public health crisis; the victims were left to fight this pandemic on their own—until a handful of fearless first responders stepped in to save this small black community.
No, the saviors were not doctors or nurses. In fact, none of them had any healthcare expertise. They were the other kind of “essential” workers who are used to being on the front lines:
Advertisement
Of course, it was black women who saved the day.
Romelia Hodges had to know.
Hodges, a community activist in Fairmont, W.V., (the county seat of Marion County), was watching the COVID-19 pandemic from the beginning. One of the reasons she was so adamant about protecting her community was because of a rare immunodeficiency called Volga anemia, a blood disorder common in the Volga River region of Russia. The illness is so rare in the U.S. that about a dozen people in the entire country suffer from the illness.
Three of them live in Romelia Hodges’ home.
Advertisement
Experts from the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins and other institutions diagnosed Hodges’ husband, Patrick, with the uncommon disorder years ago, when a mystery illness landed him on life support at 25 years old. After unraveling the medical mystery, researchers informed the couple that Volga anemia was genetic and had been passed to their two sons.
Knowing that a bout with the coronavirus could prove deadly to her family, Hodges had been watching the COVID-19 pandemic unfold with a particularly personal interest. She had stocked her home with oxygen, homeopathic remedies and disinfectant.
And she prayed.
“I’m thinking, my God, if I have to take this man into the hospital with respiratory distress, I am never going to see him again,” Hodges told The Root, thinking of her husband’s immunodeficiency. “He knew this and I knew this.”
Advertisement
Hodges attended the March 15 service with her 10-year-old daughter, who performed with a liturgical dance troupe at the service. Hodges was aware that the coronavirus was ravaging the country but assumed it had not yet reached the part of the country where she lived.
“West Virginia, at that point in time, was in a false sense of reality. That’s what I like to call it because we didn’t have any cases,” Hodges explained. “Our governor and President Trump were kind of touting that. But we were in a false sense of reality because the reason that we didn’t have any cases was because we only had 150 tests in the whole state, and they weren’t doing any testing...They were making it very, very difficult to test.
“It was a beautiful, beautiful pastor’s anniversary, one of the most blessed that I’ve been at, to be honest with you,” Hodges noted. “And the interesting thing about this is this is a tiny church. This is one of—if it’s not the—smallest churches in our region. I would almost bet on it.”
Among one of Hodges’ many community activities was running a private Facebook page called Fairmont Alliance of Minorities (FAM), dedicated to erasing the disparities among Marion County’s black residents. By March 20, Hodges began to notice that friends, neighbors and fellow churchgoers were starting to exhibit COVID-19 symptoms and decided to alert the community of a possible community spread.
Advertisement
On the same day, Hodges placed a call to Marion County Health Director Lloyd Wright. Wright, who did not respond to The Root’s requests for an interview, offered no assistance, Hodges said. Meanwhile, other Marion County residents who attended the Sunday service were being turned away by the county health department, which arranges testing. Despite informing health officials that they were at the scene of a possible community spread, healthcare workers told them that they needed to show symptoms to get tested. How could this be state policy if officials knew that asymptomatic people could be COVID-19 carriers?
The Root has reviewed multiple emails from state and local officials revealing that, at the time, there were only enough supplies for 150 COVID-19 tests for the entire state of West Virginia. The day after the pastor’s anniversary celebration, Hodges watched the press conference where Gov. Justice told citizens that he was assured by President Donald Trump that any West Virginian who wanted to get tested could get tested for free. Hodges would later watch state health authorities dispatch the National Guard and set up mobile testing centers for nursing home residents after the governor proclaimed the elderly to be a “vulnerable population.”
“I called Lloyd again a week later,” said Hodges. “I told him, ‘More and more people are getting sick. How many people do you need to be hospitalized before you come in like you did the nursing home and Morgantown, West Virginia, and bring the National Guard and test our community? You know we are being disproportionately affected here and we’re not getting the resources and services that we deserve.’ He hemmed and hawed. He said, ‘You know, we would have to send them out the survey. They have to meet the CDC requirements to be tested,’ this and that.”
Advertisement
Undeterred, Hodges essentially assembled her own all-star team of black women to stop the pandemic all on their own. With no official help from local authorities, they used the one resource that never fails:
The hookup.
The hookup is legendary in the black community. Barack Obama called it “community organizing.” It’s how Harriet Tubman freed the slaves. In fact, the Underground Railroad was essentially a multi-state system of interconnected hookups.
Hodges and her team of black female saviors may not have been able to wield any power but they had the hookup. The team included:
Advertisement
Del. Danielle Walker: Who represents neighboring Monongalia County in West Virginia’s House of Delegates
Who represents neighboring Monongalia County in West Virginia’s House of Delegates Tiffany Samuels: A development director for the West Virginia University Cancer Institute, which just happens to also employ Dr. Clay Marsh, the designated “COVID Czar” for the tri-county region.
A development director for the West Virginia University Cancer Institute, which just happens to also employ Dr. Clay Marsh, the designated “COVID Czar” for the tri-county region. Terry Berkley: Who happens to work in the office of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.)
The group reached out to the deacons and pastors of all the churches who attended the March 15 service. The alliance of ministers went back to their congregants and began spreading the word. The women (again, with no healthcare expertise) taught themselves how to do contact tracing.
“I just researched what they were doing in Cleveland, New York and D.C.” Hodges told The Root. “The tri-county region public health officials have an app that people can use to assist them in social tracing. They had it the entire time and never made us aware of it. Danielle [Walker] found out about it when she met with delegates.”
When they completed their detective work, the group had compiled a list of 89 people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus. The group’s next step was to put a full-court press on state delegates, the COVID czar and local health administrators. By April 2, telephones started ringing in black households all over Marion County.
Sen. Joe Manchin had arranged free testing for every single person on the list.
Advertisement
So, as more positive test results came in from Marion County’s black population, the state finally took action: They just stopped counting.
The state continues to report the total infections, but three days after Manchin’s office secured testing for black residents in the tri-county area, the Bureau of Public Health discontinued its practice of sharing COVID-19's racial statistics. Curiously, as of May 13, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Service’s COVID-19 site still lists Marion County and neighboring Monongalia County with 36 cases among black residents, which doesn’t seem strange, except for one fact:
At least 42 individuals on the original list compiled by Hodges’ group, all of whom are black, have tested positive.
Advertisement
When one combines the number of Marion County’s reported positive cases with neighboring counties, the state’s racially disaggregated data still does not reflect the true black infection rate.
See? Problem solved.
“I’m still trying to fight for our right to know,” Del. Walker explained. “We need accessibility, testing and for black and brown people to be included in the vulnerable population. In West Virginia, the only group that they look at as being a ‘vulnerable population’ is the elders. And I still don’t even know how many of the elders or people in the black and brown community are affected and that’s not fair.”
Advertisement
Samuels continues her advocacy from the inside, connecting the community with people in the healthcare industry. She also assists area residents with transportation and access to care. Samuels is intimately familiar with the lack of access to medical care for one specific reason. On March 17, two days after the pastor’s anniversary, California-based Alecto, one of the region’s largest healthcare providers, made an announcement that—in the midst of a global pandemic—stunned Marion County residents, both black and white.
It was closing the Fairmont Regional Medical Center—the only hospital in the area.
“We need more testing and more targeted testing,” Samuels explained. “Just yesterday, we assisted a gentleman whose brother passed away from COVID-19, and he was turned away from the testing facility. He told them that his brother passed away and that he took care of his brother and he does not feel well and they still turn him away. I don’t understand it.”
None of the churches in attendance have held in-person services since the March 15 gathering. He continues to lead the ministers’ alliance, which has created community-based goals that extend beyond healthcare and has moved his worship services online.
Advertisement
“The Bible says: “For lack of knowledge, my people perish,” Armand recounted. We were disseminating the knowledge as we received it from on high—the government, the CDC, the experts, the epidemiologists—we were giving it [COVID-19] to our community. And without these women being on the case, I don’t see how many more would not be affected. I don’t see how many more might not even, I dare say, be dead.”
For their work, Hodges, Samuels, Walker and Armand were appointed as a commissioners on the newly created COVID-19 Advisory Commission on African American Disparities by the state’s Department of Health and Human Resources. Finally through with the state’s disastrous response to the outbreak, Hodges could relax and take care of her family.
And finally, Hodges knew her family was safe. It was nearly 20 days after the church service, and she had quarantined the entire family since the gathering, so she decided to celebrate her team’s accomplishments by taking a relaxing shower with her new haul of scented products from Bath & Body Works. When Hodges exited the shower, her husband Patrick knew something was wrong by the look on his wife’s face.
“I get out the shower, dripping wet,” Hodges recounted. “I go over to the bedroom and I say to my husband as I squeezed the bottle at him: ‘Can you smell this?’And he said, “No. But I can smell you! What, what is your problem?”
Advertisement
“So I come down to my desk...and I pull out a bleach wipe,” Hodges continues. “I have industrial bleach wipes that they use in the hospital and I go to clean off my keyboard and my mouse. As soon as I open the bottle, [I can usually] smell the bleach that comes out of it. So I say to my husband: “I can’t smell this bleach bottle.”
While researching the coronavirus earlier, Hodges had already stumbled across an article about Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert, who lost his sense of taste and smell during his battle with COVID-19. She recalled all the times that her husband and sons had fallen ill. She looked at the oxygen tanks they had stored around the house for the illness. She knew there was no hospital in the area. But, after a lifetime of tomboy activities, she was diagnosed with seasonal allergies when she was 40 years old. She prayed that it was allergies and not the coronavirus that made her lose her sense of smell.
Then she started feeling congested. Then she broke out in the little-known “COVID rash.” Then it hit her youngest son. Her oldest son started feeling symptoms, too.
Then, it hit her husband.
Advertisement
Hodge’s story was not over. The devil had come knocking...
Again.
“We literally fought the devil in this house for about eight days. Not a demon, but the devil himself.” — Romelia Hodges
Through all of the rigamarole with the Marion County Health Department, politicians and health facilities, 18 days after the portentous Friendship Baptist service, Hodges had not yet been tested. Even though her situation may have been the most precarious of all the parishioners at that service, she was determined not to use one of the precious, limited number of available tests on herself. Now she was infected with the disease, while still caring for her sick husband and sons.
Advertisement
As Sen. Manchin connected the group of possibly infected worshippers and their families to a testing site, Hodges arranged for transportation for an elderly woman, loaded her husband into the car and went to a separate facility even further away because his immune systems were so compromised.
She still didn’t stop.
Hodges was on a conference call with Armand and the ministers’ alliance and local health officials when she received a call informing her that both she and her husband had tested positive for the coronavirus
“I was shocked,” Hodges explained. “From all indications, even from the CDC, by 14 days, you should be over this thing. So being 20 days out and still being positive and I hadn’t been in contact with anyone else. And by that time, my husband was already severely ill. I knew that there was something very awry about what they were telling us.”
Advertisement
By now, the list of people exposed had grown to 107 people. Luckily, her hookup team’s efforts had managed to get the attention of the people who initially ignored the crisis. Hodges would later inform the ministers and health authorities on the other line that she had tested positive. They were all shocked by the information.
Of course, the concern may have been because a senator and the governor were now involved, but two specific individuals on the call were dumbfounded by the scope and intensity of this escalating public health crisis and vowed to give her everything she and her group needed...
“COVID Czar” Clay Marsh and Sen. Joe Manchin.
“It turned out that my husband took the brunt of it,” Hodges recounted. “We literally fought the devil in this house for about eight days. Not a demon, but the devil himself. And everything they say about this horrible disease is so true. It just ravages your body. We’re about 17 days out from his last symptom and it’s just a rebuilding process. You have to rebuild your health from here. The most difficult part of all this is knowing that I passed it to my household, and that’s unfortunate.”
Advertisement
And Hodges and her crew are not done. Aside from serving on the governor’s new task force aimed at eliminating disparities for African American COVID-19 infections, Hodges is still fielding calls from people who need help. She recently discovered that two more churches had members who attended the fateful service.
Aside from Sister Horton, another person who attended that service also succumbed to the coronavirus. Shortly after the service, another woman fell ill. She had body aches, chills and eventually lost 25 pounds. However, when she went to see a physician, she wasn’t tested for COVID-19. That story wouldn’t be very remarkable if it happened to anyone else. But the sick woman just happened to be Rev. Laverna Horton, who had just celebrated her sixth anniversary as pastor of Friendship Baptist Church.
I heard it was a beautiful service. Everyone was there...
Even the devil himself.
Advertisement
Editors Note: This article has been updated to note that Tiffany Samuels, Danielle Walker and Rahsaan Armand were also selected as commissioners on the African American Disparities Task Force as well as noting when Romelia Hodges informed the group that she tested positive for COVID-19.


theroot--2020-05-14--Republican Sen. Richard Burr’s Cell Phone Seized, Steps Down From Senate Intelligence Committee Amid

Republican Sen. Richard Burr’s Cell Phone Seized, Steps Down From Senate Intelligence Committee Amid Investigation Over Stock Trade

Republican Sen. Richard Burr ( N.C. ) is in a whole heap of trouble after he reportedly traded stocks ahead of the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic .
According to CNN , Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , aka “ Turtle Power , ” accepted Burr ’ s resignation from one of the highest committee ’ s in all the land , which Burr led for three years , noting that the senator “ contacted me this morning to inform me of his decision to step aside as Chairman of the Intelligence Committee during the pendency of the investigation.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ will be effective at the end of the day , Friday .
Burr told reporters that he was stepping down because “ this is a distraction to the hard work of the committee and the members and I think the security of the country is too important to have any distractions.
” According to the Los Angeles Times , Big Burr was hit with a search warrant and forced to hand over his cellphone amid an investigation that shows that Balling Ass Burr allegedly traded several stocks that would ’ ve been directly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hit that shut down the entire country .
Big Baller Burr and his wife reportedly went on a tear February 13 , making nearly three dozen stock trades worth somewhere between $ 628,000 and $ 1.7 million on a single day .
Why is that a problem ?
Well , Bread Baking Burr just happens to be a chairman of a major committee that would be put up on game if , say , a Dinosaur-size virus was set to attack America .
Bitch-Ass Burr claims that he just so happened to use @ @ @ @ @ @ @ right around the time that the coronavirus was pulling up to America ’ s front door .
Congress passed the Stock Act in 2012 , which explicitly made it illegal for members of Congress to trade stocks with inside information .
There ’ s no public evidence that Burr broke the law or violated Senate rules with the trades .
In addition to the trades Burr made on February 13 , the senator ’ s brother-in-law , Gerald Fauth , sold six stocks worth between $ 97,000 and $ 280,000 on the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ member of the National Mediation Board , which deals with aviation and rail commerce .
Burr ’ s attorney , Alice Fisher , said last week that Burr did not coordinate his trades with Fauth .
Big Broccoli Burr knew all of this was coming as CNN notes that in March , “ the FBI and Securities and Exchange Commission had contacted Burr as part of a probe into stock trades made by lawmakers surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
” Booby Trap Burr isn ’ t commenting on any of it and there is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over the committee , but all of the probables fucking suck .
They include committee members Sens .
Jim Risch of Idaho , Marco Rubio of Florida and Susan Collins of Maine .

Republican Sen. Richard Burr (N.C.) is in a whole heap of trouble after he reportedly traded stocks ahead of the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
According to CNN, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, aka “Turtle Power,” accepted Burr’s resignation from one of the highest committee’s in all the land, which Burr led for three years, noting that the senator “contacted me this morning to inform me of his decision to step aside as Chairman of the Intelligence Committee during the pendency of the investigation.” Turtle Neck added that his resignation will be effective at the end of the day, Friday.
Advertisement
Burr told reporters that he was stepping down because “this is a distraction to the hard work of the committee and the members and I think the security of the country is too important to have any distractions.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, Big Burr was hit with a search warrant and forced to hand over his cellphone amid an investigation that shows that Balling Ass Burr allegedly traded several stocks that would’ve been directly affected if, say, a virus hit that shut down the entire country.
Advertisement Advertisement
Big Baller Burr and his wife reportedly went on a tear February 13, making nearly three dozen stock trades worth somewhere between $628,000 and $1.7 million on a single day. Why is that a problem? Well, Bread Baking Burr just happens to be a chairman of a major committee that would be put up on game if, say, a Dinosaur-size virus was set to attack America. Bitch-Ass Burr claims that he just so happened to use all public information to make these trades right around the time that the coronavirus was pulling up to America’s front door.
From CNN:
Congress passed the Stock Act in 2012, which explicitly made it illegal for members of Congress to trade stocks with inside information. There’s no public evidence that Burr broke the law or violated Senate rules with the trades. In addition to the trades Burr made on February 13, the senator’s brother-in-law, Gerald Fauth, sold six stocks worth between $97,000 and $280,000 on the same day as Burr. Fauth is a member of the National Mediation Board, which deals with aviation and rail commerce. Burr’s attorney, Alice Fisher, said last week that Burr did not coordinate his trades with Fauth.
Advertisement
Big Broccoli Burr knew all of this was coming as CNN notes that in March, “the FBI and Securities and Exchange Commission had contacted Burr as part of a probe into stock trades made by lawmakers surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.”
Booby Trap Burr isn’t commenting on any of it and there is no word as to who will take over the committee, but all of the probables fucking suck. They include committee members Sens. Jim Risch of Idaho, Marco Rubio of Florida and Susan Collins of Maine.


theroot--2020-05-14--How to Get Away With Murder: Five Questions for a Fine Man Named Rome Flynn

So , how do you get away with hiding the fact that you ’ re really bummed about How to Get Away With Murder ending for good ?
I guess the answer is , you don ’ t .
Thursday nights will never be the same without Viola Davis .
In the spirit of celebrating the final season of the popular ABC show , we ’ ve spoken with the cast , who reminisced about their favorite moments and played a very black-ass game .
Now , with Rome Flynn ( who portrays Gabriel Maddox ) recently releasing the music @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Me In Mind , ” this is the perfect time to reminisce and move forward .
“ This show really had a way of including people , ” Flynn told The Root in a virtual sit-down interview , in regards to the Shondaland legal thriller .
“ This show covered a lot of different issues , so we ’ ll look back on [ it ] and say that was a special time in television history .
For me to be a part of it ... it ’ s been a dream.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Flynn discusses how and what he learned from Davis , what post-HTGAWM life looks like for him , sends a very heartwarming memory of the late Kristoff St. John and even gave us some tips for when you ’ re on the lockdown with bae .
Get into the video above and prep for the final TGIT with Annalise Keating and the gang .
The series finale of How to Get Away With Murder airs tonight on ABC at 10 p.m .
ET .

Tonja Renée Stidhum on The Grapevine, shared by Tonja Renée Stidhum to The Root

We may earn a commission from links on this page.
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude


theroot--2020-05-14--Texas Began Opening Businesses May 1. Now, They’re Averaging 1,000 New Cases of COVID-19 a Day

If you want to know how soft-opening the country during a global pandemic is going to go , look no further than the great state of Texas .
On May 1 , Texas Gov .
Greg Abbott ( R ) allowed some businesses to reopen , and since then , Texas has only had two days where they didn ’ t reach 1,000 new coronavirus cases—May 4 and May 7—and five consecutive days of at least 1,000 new cases , the Hill reports .
“ According to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services , 1,179 new cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ total number of confirmed cases in the Lone Star State to 41,048 , ” the Hill reports .
And this is exactly what Dr. Anthony Fauci , the Tom Brady of infectious disease doctors , warned while appearing before the Senate Health Committee .
During his testimony , Dr. Fauci noted that reopening too soon could lead to “ needless suffering and death.
” “ The consequences could be really serious , ” Fauci , the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , told the committee , the Hill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state that it is , didn ’ t even try to reach the White House benchmark of waiting until they had at least “ a 14-day consecutive decline in daily new COVID-19 cases before beginning to reopen , ” the Hill reports .
Also on Tuesday , the same day that 1,179 new cases were reported , Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ( R ) warned cities not to implement their own coronavirus guidelines to protect citizens because the state government had spoken .
“ Unfortunately , a few Texas counties and cities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and have grossly exceeded state law to impose their own will on private citizens and businesses .
These letters seek to avoid any public confusion as we reopen the state , ” Paxton said in a statement , the Hill reports .
“ I trust that local officials will act quickly to correct any orders that unlawfully conflict with Texas law and Governor Abbott ’ s Executive Orders.
” As it stands , more than 1,100 Texans have died from the virus , but why would that stop an asshole from being an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an asshole .

If you want to know how soft-opening the country during a global pandemic is going to go, look no further than the great state of Texas.
On May 1, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) allowed some businesses to reopen, and since then, Texas has only had two days where they didn’t reach 1,000 new coronavirus cases—May 4 and May 7—and five consecutive days of at least 1,000 new cases, the Hill reports.
Advertisement
“According to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services, 1,179 new cases were reported on Tuesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Lone Star State to 41,048,” the Hill reports.
And this is exactly what Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Tom Brady of infectious disease doctors, warned while appearing before the Senate Health Committee. During his testimony, Dr. Fauci noted that reopening too soon could lead to “needless suffering and death.”
Advertisement Advertisement
“The consequences could be really serious,” Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the committee, the Hill reports.
Texas, being the asshole state that it is, didn’t even try to reach the White House benchmark of waiting until they had at least “a 14-day consecutive decline in daily new COVID-19 cases before beginning to reopen,” the Hill reports.
Advertisement
Also on Tuesday, the same day that 1,179 new cases were reported, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) warned cities not to implement their own coronavirus guidelines to protect citizens because the state government had spoken.
“Unfortunately, a few Texas counties and cities seem to have confused recommendations with requirements and have grossly exceeded state law to impose their own will on private citizens and businesses. These letters seek to avoid any public confusion as we reopen the state,” Paxton said in a statement, the Hill reports. “I trust that local officials will act quickly to correct any orders that unlawfully conflict with Texas law and Governor Abbott’s Executive Orders.”
Advertisement
As it stands, more than 1,100 Texans have died from the virus, but why would that stop an asshole from being an asshole—and the entire state of Texas is an asshole.


theroot--2020-05-14--The SkinStore Wants Your Beautyblender as Clean as Everything Else and Are Giving You 30% off to Do

The SkinStore Wants Your Beautyblender as Clean as Everything Else and Are Giving You 30% off to Do So

If you ’ re like me you ’ ve done every chore possible and cleaned all rooms of your house @ @ @ @ @ bathroom cabinet , mostly to organize .
The first thing I did was throw out @ @ @ @ @ Blenders no matter the brand should be changed every three months .
Time to replace @ @ @ @ @ off using the code BB30 at the SkinStore .
Clean blenders are the foundation of @ @ @ @ @ intended .
With everyone being more conscious of germs let ’ s start at the @ @ @ @ @ tools in your beauty box is important and I highly recommend this liquid B lender @ @ @ @ @ two blenders and cleanser is already on sale and is a great deal saving you @ @ @ @ @ original price .
Free shipping on all orders over $ 49 and this sale ends @ @ @ @

Sheilah Villari on Kinja Deals, shared by Ignacia to The Root

30% off Beautybl ender | SkinStore | Use Code BB30
If you’re like me you’ve done every chore possible and cleaned all rooms of your house. I started with my bathroom cabinet, mostly to organize. The first thing I did was throw out all my beautyb lenders. Blenders no matter the brand should be changed every three months. Time to replace yours and get 30% off using the code BB30 at the SkinStore.
Clean blenders are the foundation of your beauty routine, pun intended. With everyone being more conscious of germs let’s start at the beginning . Cleaning all the tools in your beauty box is important and I highly recommend this liquid B lender cleanser. This set with two blenders and cleanser is already on sale and is a great deal saving you around $16 off the original price.
Free shipping on all orders over $49 and this sale ends on May 19.


theroot--2020-05-14--Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson and Tarik 'Black Thought' Trotter Sign First-Look Deal With Universal Tel

Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson and Tarik 'Black Thought' Trotter Sign First-Look Deal With Universal Television

Ahmir ‘ Questlove ’ Thompson and Tarik ‘ Black Thought ’ Trotter ( the latter of which may still hold the crown for the greatest freestyle in modern-day time ) are having a pretty damn good week .
The duo—who are part of the Grammy award-winning hip-hop collective The Roots—have signed a first-look deal with Universal Television and Universal Television Alternative Studio , via their production company , Two One Five Entertainment .
The deal will last three years and “ covers development on scripted , unscripted and specials programming across television and digital content platforms , expanding The Roots @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s a deal that makes sense logistically as the two are already part of the NBCUniversal family—The Roots are the official house band of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Questlove serves as musical director of the show .
“ This deal is very important to us as we ’ ve been content producers and storytellers for our entire career , ” Questlove said in a statement via a press release sent to The Root .
“ A significant investment from Universal Television Alternative Studio and Universal Television in our vision @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a much larger scale .
Tarik and I see this as the next chapter to our careers , and we are very involved in the entire process .
I ’ m directing , Tarik is writing and we both are producing.
” “ Many of our initial projects have been music-centric content , and one of our goals is to become the [ premier ] hub for music storytelling—a safe space for these stories to be shared across a variety of platforms , ” Black Thought added .
“ Eventually we will expand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ However , as we all know , every story has a rhythm and Two One Five Entertainment will harness that rhythm and create well-produced , compelling content.
” Questlove took to Instagram to celebrate the deal with the caption , “ Not even this is gon na stop us from telling stories .
We have a plan and we sticking to it , ” with “ this ” seeming to allude to the coronavirus pandemic and the effect it is currently having on the entertainment industry .
Founded by Questlove and Black Thought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ few projects in development , such as docuseries Hip Hop Songs that Shook America ( which premiered on AMC last year ) ; Soul Train the Musical ; Black No More ( partnering with Oscar winner John Ridley ) ; as well as the recently completed Black Woodstock feature documentary , based on the Harlem Cultural & Arts Festivals in 1969 .
As mentioned when we reported on Black Woodstock back in December , The Root often gets mistaken for The Roots , so taking this show on the road to television may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Black Thought !
We ’ ll have our people call your people ... who some may still believe to be the same people .
But , I digress .
Congrats , fellas !

Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson and Tarik ‘Black Thought’ Trotter (the latter of which may still hold the crown for the greatest freestyle in modern-day time) are having a pretty damn good week.
The duo—who are part of the Grammy award-winning hip-hop collective The Roots—have signed a first-look deal with Universal Television and Universal Television Alternative Studio, via their production company, Two One Five Entertainment. The deal will last three years and “covers development on scripted, unscripted and specials programming across television and digital content platforms, expanding The Roots’ 10-year-plus relationship with NBC.”
Advertisement
It’s a deal that makes sense logistically as the two are already part of the NBCUniversal family—The Roots are the official house band of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Questlove serves as musical director of the show.
“This deal is very important to us as we’ve been content producers and storytellers for our entire career,” Questlove said in a statement via a press release sent to The Root. “A significant investment from Universal Television Alternative Studio and Universal Television in our vision allows us to share these stories on a much larger scale. Tarik and I see this as the next chapter to our careers, and we are very involved in the entire process. I’m directing, Tarik is writing and we both are producing.”
Advertisement Advertisement
“Many of our initial projects have been music-centric content, and one of our goals is to become the [premier] hub for music storytelling—a safe space for these stories to be shared across a variety of platforms,” Black Thought added. “Eventually we will expand outside of music with our stories. However, as we all know, every story has a rhythm and Two One Five Entertainment will harness that rhythm and create well-produced, compelling content.”
Questlove took to Instagram to celebrate the deal with the caption, “Not even this is gonna stop us from telling stories. We have a plan and we sticking to it,” with “this” seeming to allude to the coronavirus pandemic and the effect it is currently having on the entertainment industry.
Advertisement
Founded by Questlove and Black Thought, Two One Five Entertainment has a few projects in development, such as docuseries Hip Hop Songs that Shook America (which premiered on AMC last year); Soul Train the Musical; Black No More (partnering with Oscar winner John Ridley); as well as the recently completed Black Woodstock feature documentary, based on the Harlem Cultural & Arts Festivals in 1969.
Advertisement
As mentioned when we reported on Black Woodstock back in December, The Root often gets mistaken for The Roots, so taking this show on the road to television may not be a bad idea, Questlove and Black Thought! We’ll have our people call your people...who some may still believe to be the same people. But, I digress. Congrats, fellas!


theroot--2020-05-14--Trump Doesn’t Care for Dr. Fauci or Coronavirus Science Unless They Agree With Him

Dr. Anthony Fauci is a doctor .
He ’ s also the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases .
He ’ s noted several times that as a doctor and a public health official , he ’ s a man of science and as such , he doesn ’ t care if the facts lead him to conclusions that are Democrat or Republican ; he ’ s only going where the science takes him .
Can you guess who hates that answer ?
If you guessed Orange Shit Stain in human form , then you ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dr. Fauci testified before the Senate Committee on Health , Education , Labor and Pensions in which he noted that reopening states too soon could have dire consequences .
That was reportedly the most damning testimony from the lone honest voice in the Trump administration during this global pandemic .
On Wednesday , the president of people who can ’ t wait to rally that Dr. Fauci ’ s comments were “ not an acceptable answer , ” CNBC reports .
The president told reporters that he was “ surprised ” by Fauci @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and while he didn ’ t “ single out which specific answer from Fauci that he found unacceptable , ” he did reference Fauci ’ s testimony about reopening schools in the fall .
The president doesn ’ t give a fuck about science unless science agrees with him .
And in the case that the science is leaning toward another outcome , the president expects whoever is reading the data to lie in his favor .
Dr. Fauci does neither , and in turn , he ’ s become a national treasure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tells me that Dr. Fauci is getting tired of this bullshit .
Can you imagine being the doctor who has worked with several administrations only to have to deal with this band of privileged assholes ?
During his testimony , Dr. Fauci added that he doesn ’ t know when there would be an effective vaccine and he doubted that if they did find a suitable treatment , it would be ready to go by the fall when kids are expected to head back to school .
“ In this case that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vaccine to facilitate the reentry of students into the fall term would be something that would be a bit of a bridge too far , ” he said , CNBC reports .
He later added : “ We just have to see on a step-by-step basis as we get into the period of time with the fall about reopening the schools , exactly where we will be in the dynamics of the outbreak.
” Dr. Fauci also noted that we could be dealing with even more “ suffering and death , ” and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ almost turn the clock back rather than going forward.
” Asked if he agreed with Dr. Fauci concerns , Trump said , “ Look , he wants to play all sides of the equation .
I was surprised by his answer , actually.
” By surprised , Trump meant that he was surprised that Dr. Fauci continues to use data to draw a conclusion when he could just ask the president what he should say .
Trump added : “ The only thing that would be acceptable , as I said , would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , over a certain age , ” Trump added .
“ Because this is a disease that attacks age , and it attacks health.
” Students and young children , the president added , are statistically far less vulnerable to the disease .
The president and his wayward band of liars ( Republicans ) continue to push this idea , which was another myth that Dr. Fauci rebuffed during his testimony .
“ I think we better be careful that we ’ re not cavalier in thinking that children are completely immune to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said .
And he noted that this disease is not one that even doctors fully understand , and while stats have shown that children don ’ t seem to be as affected by coronavirus as other groups , there has been uptick in “ a very strange inflammatory syndrome ” similar to Kawasaki disease in children , CNN notes .
In short , the president is not a scientist and is also not a man of moral character or even remotely decent values .
He doesn ’ t give a fuck about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as the economy can be propped back upright .
Dr. Fauci is always going to use data to tell the truth and Trump is a liar .
At some point , you ’ d have to expect Dr. Fauci will get tired of dealing with Trump ’ s bullshit .

Dr. Anthony Fauci is a doctor. He’s also the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He’s noted several times that as a doctor and a public health official, he’s a man of science and as such, he doesn’t care if the facts lead him to conclusions that are Democrat or Republican; he’s only going where the science takes him.
Can you guess who hates that answer? If you guessed Orange Shit Stain in human form, then you’d be right.
Advertisement
On Tuesday, Dr. Fauci testified before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in which he noted that reopening states too soon could have dire consequences. That was reportedly the most damning testimony from the lone honest voice in the Trump administration during this global pandemic.
On Wednesday, the president of people who can’t wait to rally that Dr. Fauci’s comments were “not an acceptable answer,” CNBC reports.
Advertisement Advertisement
The president told reporters that he was “surprised” by Fauci’s answers during the hearing, and while he didn’t “single out which specific answer from Fauci that he found unacceptable,” he did reference Fauci’s testimony about reopening schools in the fall.
The president doesn’t give a fuck about science unless science agrees with him. And in the case that the science is leaning toward another outcome, the president expects whoever is reading the data to lie in his favor.
Advertisement
Dr. Fauci does neither, and in turn, he’s become a national treasure who should be protected, but something tells me that Dr. Fauci is getting tired of this bullshit. Can you imagine being the doctor who has worked with several administrations only to have to deal with this band of privileged assholes?
During his testimony, Dr. Fauci added that he doesn’t know when there would be an effective vaccine and he doubted that if they did find a suitable treatment, it would be ready to go by the fall when kids are expected to head back to school.
Advertisement
“In this case that the idea of having treatments available or a vaccine to facilitate the reentry of students into the fall term would be something that would be a bit of a bridge too far,” he said, CNBC reports.
He later added: “We just have to see on a step-by-step basis as we get into the period of time with the fall about reopening the schools, exactly where we will be in the dynamics of the outbreak.”
Advertisement
Dr. Fauci also noted that we could be dealing with even more “suffering and death,” and claimed that reopening too soon “would almost turn the clock back rather than going forward.”
Asked if he agreed with Dr. Fauci concerns, Trump said, “Look, he wants to play all sides of the equation. I was surprised by his answer, actually.” By surprised, Trump meant that he was surprised that Dr. Fauci continues to use data to draw a conclusion when he could just ask the president what he should say.
Advertisement
Trump added: “The only thing that would be acceptable, as I said, would be professors, teachers, et cetera, over a certain age,” Trump added. “Because this is a disease that attacks age, and it attacks health.”
Students and young children, the president added, are statistically far less vulnerable to the disease. The president and his wayward band of liars (Republicans) continue to push this idea, which was another myth that Dr. Fauci rebuffed during his testimony.
Advertisement
“I think we better be careful that we’re not cavalier in thinking that children are completely immune to the deleterious effects” of COVID-19, he said. And he noted that this disease is not one that even doctors fully understand, and while stats have shown that children don’t seem to be as affected by coronavirus as other groups, there has been uptick in “a very strange inflammatory syndrome” similar to Kawasaki disease in children, CNN notes.
In short, the president is not a scientist and is also not a man of moral character or even remotely decent values. He doesn’t give a fuck about your family or your health as long as the economy can be propped back upright. Dr. Fauci is always going to use data to tell the truth and Trump is a liar. At some point, you’d have to expect Dr. Fauci will get tired of dealing with Trump’s bullshit.


theroot--2020-05-14--Living Single's Erika Alexander Reveals She Almost Wasn't Cast in Role of 'Maxine'

“ Maxine Shaw , Attorney-at-Law ” is one of the beloved main characters from the hit ‘ 90s sitcom Living Single , as portrayed by Erika Alexander .
The show would be entirely different without Max ’ s playful energy , and a new Facebook video interview with Alexander reveals that at one point , she wasn ’ t sure if the role would be hers to keep .
“ I was told that one of the big head honchos , after the table read , said ‘ Hey , we ’ re going to have to get rid of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well at this table read , ’ ” Alexander revealed during her chat with Shadow & Act on Wednesday .
She said that she was nearly replaced by another actress for the role .
“ I don ’ t know how I couldn ’ t not do well , since I had just auditioned the day before and got hired , ” she said .
Although , she did have some fans who rallied to keep her on board .
“ There was another head honcho who called him out and said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Alexander , I ’ ll beat yo ur ass , ’ ” she explained .
She and T.C .
Carson , who portrayed Kyle Barker , were the last two cast members to be hired on the show .
The conversation sprung up during a discussion about the show ’ s creator , Yvette Lee Bowser , revealing that she had to fight to keep the character of Maxine in the show .
During the Q & A , Alexander said that she had no idea about that situation until Bowser discussed it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ That was news to me , ” she said ) .
She also gave sound advice to black creatives who are working against a big machine .
“ If somebody says no , you have to go around another way , ” she said .
“ ...
It ’ s not easy to do that .
I hate that people who are trying to sell things that are not in the so-called mainstream have to work so hard to put their voices out there , but that ’ s just the way it @ @ @

J'na Jefferson on The Grapevine, shared by J'na Jefferson to The Root

“Maxine Shaw, Attorney-at-Law” is one of the beloved main characters from the hit ‘90s sitcom Living Single, as portrayed by Erika Alexander. The show would be entirely different without Max’s playful energy, and a new Facebook video interview with Alexander reveals that at one point, she wasn’t sure if the role would be hers to keep.
“I was told that one of the big head honchos, after the table read, said ‘Hey, we’re going to have to get rid of Erika because she’s not doing well at this table read,’” Alexander revealed during her chat with Shadow & Act on Wednesday. She said that she was nearly replaced by another actress for the role.
Advertisement
“I don’t know how I couldn’t not do well, since I had just auditioned the day before and got hired,” she said. Although, she did have some fans who rallied to keep her on board. “There was another head honcho who called him out and said, ‘If you say anything about Erika Alexander, I’ll beat yo ur ass,’” she explained. She and T.C. Carson, who portrayed Kyle Barker, were the last two cast members to be hired on the show.
The conversation sprung up during a discussion about the show’s creator, Yvette Lee Bowser, revealing that she had to fight to keep the character of Maxine in the show. During the Q&A, Alexander said that she had no idea about that situation until Bowser discussed it in a 2019 interview. (“That was news to me,” she said).
Advertisement Advertisement
She also gave sound advice to black creatives who are working against a big machine.
“If somebody says no, you have to go around another way,” she said. “...It’s not easy to do that. I hate that people who are trying to sell things that are not in the so-called mainstream have to work so hard to put their voices out there, but that’s just the way it is.”


theroot--2020-05-13--Sephora Has Some Deals to Keep You Looking Glamorous, Even While You're Stuck at Home

The best Sephora deals and promo codes for May 2020 are here .
Sephora ’ s online shop hasn ’ t stopped offering up sizzling deals while the stores are closed , and right now you can get your hands on cosmetics , accessories , lotions , and more at significant discounts .
We ’ ve picked many of our favorite Sephora deals below , and if you use the promo code FREESHIP at checkout , you ’ ll get free shipping with no minimum .
Save half off the regular price right now on the Urban Decay Naked Cherry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dozen cherry-hued neutral shades to choose from .
From “ Bang Bang ” to “ Feelz ” to “ Drunk Dial ” —a.k.a .
the entire range of human emotions—you ’ ll be able to compose some distinctive looks with this palette .
• None Buy it now for $ 25 This adorable piece from the Museum of Ice Cream x Sephora Collection lets you represent some of your favorite tasty treats around your wrist .
The charm bracelet is marked down from the original $ 28 price point , but don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rainbow Sherbet Lashes from the line on sale now for $ 7 ( down from $ 18 ) .
• None Buy it now for $ 16 Sephora ’ s “ Mini Deluxe ” sampler set gives you a tiny dose of eight different perfumes , including Dolce & Gabbana Dolce Garden Eau de Parfum , Chloé Eau de Parfum , and Atelier Cologne Clémentine California Cologne Absolue Pure Parfum .
It ’ s billed as a $ 147 value , and that includes the certificate inside for a “ free ” full-sized @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scents .
The only real downside is that you have to use it at a Sephora store , so you might have to wait to cash it in .
Still , you ’ ll have some time to test out these options .
• None Buy it now for $ 75 Want to give your curls the softness and bounce they deserve ?
DevaCurl ’ s Redefine Super Curly kit has an 8oz milk cleanser , an 8oz milk conditioner , 3oz coconut curl styler , and a 0.16oz high-shine multi-benefit oil that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ curls .
Score this set , a $ 62 value , for just $ 32 right now .
• None Buy it now for $ 32 Go for the bold look with the Fenty Beauty Killawatt Foil Freestyle Highlight Palette , which has seven metallic shades including Subzero , Heart Burn , and Scandal ’ ice .
This fire-and-ice themed set is marked down significantly from its usual $ 54 price point , so go wild .
• None Buy it now for $ 23 Rihanna ’ s beauty brand is one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now you can try one of its striking lip colors for 30 % off right now at Sephora .
The Fenty Beauty Poutsicle Juicy Satin Lipstick comes in shades like Motorboat , Alpha Doll , and Go Deep , so… have fun with it , yeah ?
• None Buy it now for $ 14 Given that we ’ re all stuck at home , what better time than now to fire up Netflix and watch a charming teen rom-com ?
Sephora teamed with Netflix to produce some items inspired by the latest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this scrunchie set lets you add a flashy bit of style .
• None Buy it now for $ 9 This is an absolute steal .
Her products are famously great and famously expensive .
This is a really beautiful blush and highlighter pallet that work for a lot of skin tones .
I recommend the Darya set only because I am a bit fairer .
I ’ ve always liked this line but have to wait for a sale to truly enjoy .
Now is that time .
• None Buy it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has tried a bunch of charcoal products , I can say they really do make a difference in your complexion .
Perfect to use at morning or at night and truly livens dull skin on the face and neck .
Glamglow is another amazing skin care company that is pricey but produces major results .
This sale is a must .
• None Buy it now for $ 38 It ’ s easy to let things slide when you ’ re not leaving the house much ( if at all ) , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to continue to take care of yourself .
Sephora ’ s Mask Stick is an easy , affordable way to keep your face feeling fresh , and they ’ re half-off at just $ 4 apiece .
Watermelon , Bamboo , and Spirulina varieties are still available as of this writing .
• None Buy it now for $ 4 Kat Von D ’ s KVD Vegan Beauty released this enticing Alchemist Holographic Palette , which features four shades for your eyes , lips , and face that glisten with “ double dimension @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Emerald ( green ) , Saphyre ( blue ) , Amethyst ( ultra-violet ) , and Opal ( pink ) , while a separate single $ 7 item has Aquamarine ( teal ) .
• None Buy it now for $ 10 Now that you have some beautiful palettes to play with , you ’ ll need a good set of brushes .
Sephora ’ s brand is as good as any luxury company ’ s , complete with black soft touch handles .
These 10 brushes can help you curate any image @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are tucked away in black faux leather roll to keep them safe for travel and transport .
• None Buy it now for $ 70 Nothing warms the heart or raises the spirits like a delightful scent , and this exclusive set from Clean Reserve should do the trick .
Plus , you ’ re helping saving bees since they partnered with BEEautiful Earth .
This also mean the packaging is sustainable and all the ingredients are farm sourced in eco-concious packaging .
They live up to the Clean name in every way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and save the planet .
Win-Win .
Pro Tip : Warm Cotton is where it is at .
• None Buy it now for $ 48

Sheilah Villari and Andrew Hayward on Roundups, shared by Gabe Carey to The Root

Featured Deal: Give Me Some Shine Lip Gloss + Plumper Set | $24
The best Sephora deals and promo codes for December 2021 are here.
Looking for the best deals on Fenty Beauty, Marc Jacobs Beauty, M, and other cosmetics brands? Sephora has you covered with its online deals, which include massive discounts on those brands and others.
Snag free shipping on all orders by using the promo code: FREESHIP.
Give your skin a little rest and relaxation with the Fenty Skin Start’r Set. This set comes with a travel-size mini makeup remover-cleanser, a toner-serum, and a sunscreen-moisturizer. These products target dark spots, finelines, wrinkles, and dryness. These products are vegan and come in recyclable packaging, so you can do right by your skin and help the environment.
Versatile and multi-faceted, the Season to Sparkle 8 Piece Makeup Brush Set will be the inspiration behind all your holiday looks. Designed just for the Sephora collection each brush is vegan, cruelty-free, so use without guilt. You even get a handy pouch to keep them clean between uses. This is a great set to gift a beauty beginner. Plus, it’s 40% off.
Get the most kissable lips with the Give Me Some Shine Lip Gloss + Plumper Set. This set comes with an array of colors from top Sephora brands.
This included Fenty, Huda Beauty, Milk, NARS, and Pat McGrath.These sets are an awesome way to get to know brands you’ve been curious about. They’re super wearable and accessible to the plumping novice. Note that they’re also cruelty-free, and the hues will complement any skin tone.
Looking for a great waterproof, liquid-gel eyeliner at a discounted price? Available in four colors, this product is available in a high shine and metallic finish, based on your preference. As a bonus, this eyeliner is free of sulfates and parabens, along with other harmful ingredients like formaldehyde.
Massage a handful of the Coco Rose Coconut Oil Body Polish into your skin to soften and hydrate dry, rough patches and save your body this winter. The Soft Glow Body Oil will leave your body feeling silky-smooth and luminous. The perfect sparkle to carry you into the new year. Herbivore knows what they’re doing.
Jouer Cosmetics’ bestseller includes a brilliant highlighter, matte bronzer, and attractive matte and shimmer blush colors in this palette. This cruelty-free, vegan, and gluten-free item is the touch color you were looking for. These soft beautiful hues are inspired by Marie-Antoinette and Versailles. All work together in glorious French fashion.
Get your glow on for a discounted price with this Holographic Stick from Milk Makeup. This stick is made with a buildable cream texture to give your skin a dewy finish with a weightless feel. I mean, who doesn’t need a little glitter in their life?
For me, concealer is an essential step in my makeup routine. Marc Jacobs Beauty Accomplice Concealer & Touch-Up Stick is super creamy and perfect for those of us who often do our makeup on-the-go. This stick is perfect for delivering natural, even skin tone, hiding dark circles, blemishes, and all your other little imperfections.
Note that you have 8 different options of shades, all at the same 50% off discount.
This glow kit has four metallic powder highlighters to make any look pop. Instantly add radiance to your skin. They are blendable and the tones work harmoniously together. Wear them separately on the eyes and body, this palette was made for experimenting. Shine bright at any party.
If you’re looking for the best in skincare Shiseido is for you. This three-piece bundle includes the company’s best sellers. The Urban Environment SPF 42 is oil-free and ideal for fun in the sun. It’s lightweight and works perfectly even under makeup. The Ultimune Serum protects against daily damage and premature aging, leaving your skin hydrated and smooth. The Benefiance Wrinkle Eye Cream completes the routine by significantly reducing wrinkles after a few uses. This kit is great for all skin types.
Save $5 Shiseido Bestsellers Urban SPF Set Defends against visible daily damage and premature aging.
The Benefiance Wrinkle Smoothing Eye Cream visibly minimizes wrinkles in as little as one week. Buy for $43 at Sephora
This story was originally published by Sheilah Villari on 03/19/2020 and updated with new information on 12/20/2021.


theroot--2020-05-14--Black Delivery Driver Held Against His Will in Gated Oklahoma City Community by White Homeowners

A black delivery driver was trapped for more than in an hour in a gated community in Oklahoma City earlier this week by a white man claiming to be president of the local homeowner ’ s association .
The encounter , live-streamed by furniture and home appliance delivery driver Travis Miller on Monday , went viral as fears around the country have spiked over the lengths white people will go to defend spaces they see as theirs .
Miller had completed a delivery in the Ashford Hills neighborhood in Northeast Oklahoma City and was attempting to leave the gated community @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with his car .
The man , who later identified himself as David Stewart , president of the local HOA , demanded to know where Miller was going .
“ It ’ s none of your business .
I ’ m going out , that ’ s where I ’ m going , ” Miller responded .
After Stewart identified himself , a frustrated Miller replied , “ I don ’ t care what your name is , move out the way.
” Miller waited in his vehicle for another 30 minutes when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we want to know is why you ’ re in here and who gave you the gate code .
That ’ s all we need to know , ” the homeowner said .
Miller refused to divulge the information , not wanting to share his customer ’ s personal information , he told KFOR-TV .
He was held up for another hour before the customer finally emerged and talked to Stewart .
“ They just spoke for a minute , and [ Stewart ] moved out the way , ” Miller said on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emotional Miller called the customer , who he said apologized profusely for the incident .
“ Normally I could have handled it a little differently , a little better , but emotionally I have a lot of things going on , ” Miller told the customer .
He added that he didn ’ t want to move his car right away out of concern that police would think he was fleeing the scene .
Miller then called the police himself , just to make sure he was in the clear .
On his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wiping tears from his eyes before he gets back on the phone .
“ I have my video , but ain ’ t no telling what they will or won ’ t watch , ” Miller told a passenger in the vehicle .
To Miller , it ’ s clear Stewart ’ s actions were racially motivated .
In his Facebook post , Miller referred to Stewart as a “ white supremacist racist ” and “ the newest overt self-proclaimed defender of white flight spaces.
” Tensions are running high across the country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ racial divides .
Foremost in many people ’ s minds is the killing of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia at the hands of two white men , Travis and Gregory McMichael , who ambushed the young man as he was running through their Satilla Shores neighborhood .
They claimed they suspected Arbery was a burglar .
But protests over coronavirus closures have touched on similar themes of white entitlement .
Across the country , majority-white protests have called on state governments to lift shelter-in-place measures meant to mitigate the spread of the deadly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ communities , indigenous populations , and communities of color throughout the country .
“ I just know that emotionally , it was hard to maintain restraint , especially when I ’ m dealing with death in the family , two family members within two days of each other , ” Miller told KFOR .
“ I just did the best I could to make sure I didn ’ t make a bad situation worse .
”

A black delivery driver was trapped for more than an hour in a gated community in Oklahoma City earlier this week by a white man claiming to be president of the local homeowner’s association.
The encounter, live-streamed by furniture and home appliance delivery driver Travis Miller on Monday, went viral as fears around the country have spiked over the lengths white people will go to defend spaces they see as theirs.
Advertisement
Miller had completed a delivery in the Ashford Hills neighborhood in Northeast Oklahoma City and was attempting to leave the gated community when a white man blocked him in with his car.
The man, who later identified himself as David Stewart, president of the local HOA, demanded to know where Miller was going.
Advertisement Advertisement
“It’s none of your business. I’m going out, that’s where I’m going,” Miller responded.
After Stewart identified himself, a frustrated Miller replied, “I don’t care what your name is, move out the way.”
Advertisement
Miller waited in his vehicle for another 30 minutes when another man approached him: “All we want to know is why you’re in here and who gave you the gate code. That’s all we need to know,” the homeowner said.
Miller refused to divulge the information, not wanting to share his customer’s personal information, he told KFOR-TV.
Advertisement
He was held up for another hour before the customer finally emerged and talked to Stewart.
“They just spoke for a minute, and [Stewart] moved out the way,” Miller said on the livestream.
Advertisement
Moments later, an emotional Miller called the customer, who he said apologized profusely for the incident.
“Normally I could have handled it a little differently, a little better, but emotionally I have a lot of things going on,” Miller told the customer. He added that he didn’t want to move his car right away out of concern that police would think he was fleeing the scene.
Advertisement
Miller then called the police himself, just to make sure he was in the clear. On his Facebook Live, Miller can be seen wiping tears from his eyes before he gets back on the phone.
“I have my video, but ain’t no telling what they will or won’t watch,” Miller told a passenger in the vehicle.
Advertisement
To Miller, it’s clear Stewart’s actions were racially motivated. In his Facebook post, Miller referred to Stewart as a “white supremacist racist” and “the newest overt self-proclaimed defender of white flight spaces.”
Tensions are running high across the country as recent news events have highlighted clear racial divides. Foremost in many people’s minds is the killing of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia at the hands of two white men, Travis and Gregory McMichael, who ambushed the young man as he was running through their Satilla Shores neighborhood. They claimed they suspected Arbery was a burglar.
Advertisement
But protests over coronavirus closures have touched on similar themes of white entitlement. Across the country, majority-white protests have called on state governments to lift shelter-in-place measures meant to mitigate the spread of the deadly virus, which has been devastating black communities, indigenous populations, and communities of color throughout the country.
“I just know that emotionally, it was hard to maintain restraint, especially when I’m dealing with death in the family, two family members within two days of each other,” Miller told KFOR. “I just did the best I could to make sure I didn’t make a bad situation worse.”


theroot--2020-05-14--Big 3 Postpones Season, Reality Show Tournament Amid COVID-19 Concerns

At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic , the Big 3 made the bizarre decision to produce a “ quarantined , reality show-style three-on-three tournament ” that was set to premiere in April .
To help bring this idea to fruition , the producers of Big Brother became official partners and they began to develop what would basically be the hoops equivalent of the UFC ’ s The Ultimate Fighter .
But a funny thing happened along the way : COVID-19 turned out to be way more devastating than anyone could ’ ve ever imagined .
And now the Big @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the NBA ’ s spotlight has been postponed until as late as September , as has the Big 3 ’ s regular season , which was scheduled to begin on June 20 .
The Big 3 will delay a quarantined , reality show 3-on-3 pre-season basketball tournament from this month to either August or September because of ongoing concerns about the novel coronavirus , a person familiar with the developments told USA TODAY Sports .
The Big 3 , which originally planned to begin its fourth season on June 20 in Memphis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in either the fall or the winter , the person added .
“ It ’ s a fluid situation , ” a person familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports .
“ It ’ s hard to provide a fixed date , but it ’ s happening.
” The three-week tournament was set to include 16 participants who would be quarantined in a newly constructed home in Los Angeles .
But amid safety concerns for those traveling from out of state , as well as testing shortages throughout the country , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The WWE and UFC have exploited loopholes in order to continue operations during this ongoing pandemic , but as the NFL , NBA , NCAA and other sports leagues have learned , things get a bit more tricky when you have multiple teams , owners and participants involved .
I ’ m a big fan of the brand of basketball that the Big 3 is bringing to the forefront , so hopefully , they ’ ll be able to iron everything out by September .

At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the Big 3 made the bizarre decision to produce a “quarantined, reality show-style three-on-three tournament” that was set to premiere in April. To help bring this idea to fruition, the producers of Big Brother became official partners and they began to develop what would basically be the hoops equivalent of the UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter. But a funny thing happened along the way: COVID-19 turned out to be way more devastating than anyone could’ve ever imagined. And now the Big 3’s attempt to steal some of the NBA’s spotlight has been postponed until as late as September, as has the Big 3’s regular season, which was scheduled to begin on June 20.
From USA Today:
The Big 3 will delay a quarantined, reality show 3-on-3 pre-season basketball tournament from this month to either August or September because of ongoing concerns about the novel coronavirus, a person familiar with the developments told USA TODAY Sports. The Big 3, which originally planned to begin its fourth season on June 20 in Memphis, is aiming to start the season in either the fall or the winter, the person added. “It’s a fluid situation,” a person familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s hard to provide a fixed date, but it’s happening.”
Advertisement
The three-week tournament was set to include 16 participants who would be quarantined in a newly constructed home in Los Angeles. But amid safety concerns for those traveling from out of state, as well as testing shortages throughout the country, the decision was made to pump the brakes.
The WWE and UFC have exploited loopholes in order to continue operations during this ongoing pandemic, but as the NFL, NBA, NCAA and other sports leagues have learned, things get a bit more tricky when you have multiple teams, owners and participants involved. I’m a big fan of the brand of basketball that the Big 3 is bringing to the forefront, so hopefully, they’ll be able to iron everything out by September.