Nevada MLK weekend events

Annual Reno MLK Day memorial caravan hits the road amid the COVID-19 pandemic By Jason Hidalgo / rgj.com 1-18-2021, Reno Gazette-Journal front page 1-19-2021   MLK Day signifies ongoing people's movement "This is a movement that's been going on forever" —Patricia Gallimore By Marcella Corona / Reno Gazette-Journal front page 1-18-2021 The above link represents an earlier online version posted to rgj.com 1-16-2021   MLK Day caravan continues as locals line up to drive Reno’s highway named after icon By Mike Stefansson / KOLO TV-8 1-18-2021 [Editor's Note: A similar story aired on KRNV TV-4/KRXI Fox-11 but has not appeared online] Livestream with an all-star cast of thousands 35th Annual Interfaith Memorial Service: Keep Moving Forward, We Aren't Done Yet / YouTube Facebook // NevadaInterfaith.org // 775-357-3396 Sunday, January 17, 2021, 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. PST   23rd ANNUAL REV. ONIE COOPER MEMORIAL CARAVAN Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Highway (safe-distanced I-580/US 395) Monday January 18, 2021, 11:00 a.m. PST (10:30 a.m. Staging)  Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 780 Del Monte Lane, Reno 89511 Info: Donald G.T. Gallimore Sr. 775-303-7050 39th Annual MLK Birthday Virtual Parade and Documentary Airs 10:00 a.m. Monday, January 18 NBC, the CW Network, Facebook Live or kingweeklasvegas.com For additional info, contact Wendell P. Williams (702) 398-5888 ZOOM IN: Sen. Dina Neal remembers her father at MLK Day Tele-luncheon 33rd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration—Starting Good Trouble: A New Normal @Northern Nevada Black Cultural Awareness Society (NNBCAS) Monday, January 18, 2021. Workshops all day. Finale 7:00 p.m. PST Reno CW 8.3 / Charter Spectrum 12 or 695 / Dish 9008 / Dishnet 9 or YouTube livestream Visit nnbcas.org or call (775) 329-8990 for details.

Sen. Joseph M. Neal, Jr., 1935-2020

Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts:

The best who ever was just embarked on a new journey. At 12:45 a.m. on 1-1-21, Sen. Dina Neal, D-North Las Vegas, informed me that her father, 32-year former State Sen. Joseph M. Neal, Jr., D-North Las Vegas, died at 10:25 p.m. PST 12-31-2020.

"Hello, Mr. Barbano. Happy New Year. I bring sad news to you. My Dad, after a long-fought battle, succumbed to an illness. He passed away at 10:25 tonight at Dignity Health, Sienna Campus, in Henderson, (where) he received the best care, surrounded by family."

My friend Joe had become ill over the past several weeks and apparently succumbed to multiple system failure after rebounding many times to the surprise of professionals and family surrounding him with thoughts and prayers.

Please monitor SenJoeNeal.org and NevadaLabor.com for details. You may send remembrances to me for posting.

Requiescas in pace, Senatore Maximissimo, frater mei.

Andrew Barbano
First Vice-President & Political Action Committee Chair
NAACP Reno-Sparks Branch No. 1112

"Senator Joe Neal was always generous to share his time and wisdom with many of us in Northern Nevada.  He was a pioneer in his personal and political life; a trailblazer in our state and showed a way for many young politicians to follow. From the cotton fields of Louisiana to the chambers of the Nevada Legislature, the accomplishments during the life and times of Senator Joe Neal will not be forgotten." Lonnie L. Feemster President, NAACP Reno Sparks Branch #1112 Vice-President, NAACP Tri-State Conference Idaho/Nevada/Utah Former Nevada State Director, NAACP National Voter Fund CARSON CITY, NV (19 Jan. 2021) — In his State of the State Address, broadcast statewide, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak praised the service and honored the memory of Sen. Neal. A MUST-READ: Abraham Lincoln, at age 28, predicted the rise of 'mobocratic spirit' & leaders who abet it Sen. Neal was honored with the Elijah Lovejoy Award, named for the abolitionist newspaper editor murdered by a mob in 1837 and mentioned in the above item By Bret Stephens / New York Times, Seattle Times et al. 1-18, 1-19-2021

 

COMPUTERS & PERIPHERALS NEEDED TO HELP LOCAL STUDENTS

Many of Washoe County’s kids live without something most of us consider essential – a computer. Now, a local nonprofit group that helps the kids is asking for your help.

We are the Reno Cigar Lions, a local chapter of Lions Club International. Since 2006, we’ve refurbished thousands of donated computers for kids who live in households with no computer. We are all volunteers. We work with the Washoe County School District to identify the students and we offer our refurbished Linux-powered computers for free.

The lifeblood of our program is older models donated by business and government agencies when they upgrade to new computers. Upgrading has simply become a lower priority for these entities during the crisis, and many of them are now inaccessible to us because of COVID restrictions.

Our donation drought coincided with a surge in demand, as COVID-19 forced school closures this spring. Online learning may be the new protocol and the gap between kids with computers and those without has been magnified.

Earlier this year, there were more than 600 kids on our waiting list. We have scrambled to respond and we've cut the number down to 200. But unanswered questions loom about what will transpire during the new school year. Our greatest hope is that we can continue to meet the need, whatever it is.

We’re appealing to the community for help. Bulk donations of PCs and laptops are needed. But anyone with an extra laptop or desktop PC can help. Please consider donating one or more computers that are in working order. Please contact us by calling (775) 453-0307 or by e-mailing RenoCigarLions@gmail.com to coordinate your donation.

Parents and teachers will attest that these gifts can be life-changing. In the short term, it’s about school performance. But we’ve been gratified when recipients contact us later to report new self-confidence and extra-curricular accomplishments that wouldn’t have been possible without a computer.

Note: Our program will also accept monitors, keyboards, mice, power-cords, memory cards and more. [[ADDITIONAL INFO]]

Thank you.

Dorothy Ingraham
President, Reno Cigar Lions Club
Member, Reno-Sparks NAACP Executive Committee

NOW! FREE books for kids —> SIGN UP TODAY.

The ballots are coming! The ballots are coming!
RENO-SPARKS NAACP CALL TO ACTION
Voter Motivation Will Change the Nation
BlackVoicesChangeLives.org

Lonnie L. Feemster

You can help increase Black voter turnout and make a critical difference in this year's election by joining the NAACP Volunteer Civic Engagement Program. Can you contact just 20 or more infrequent voters over the next four weeks? (Less than one per day, but the more, the merrier.)

When: Starting NOW

How Much Time: You choose based on your availability — from a few minutes to a few hours. We must move our efforts into high gear. Election ballots are going out and our Get Out The Vote crew needs all hands on deck.

Where to start: Go to the National NAACP website, BlackVoicesChangeLives.org/ Sign up to increase the vote by calling infrequent voters to encourage them to vote and vote early. Our voices must be heard and heard loudly. We want everyone in our community to participate and we need your help in leading people to do so. By talking with Black voters, you can increase turnout and increase our power at the ballot box.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the time commitment? You choose based on your own availability — from a few minutes to a few hours per week. As much as you can fit into your schedule. Activity will pick up as Election Day approaches
•  Is it safe to volunteer during the Coronavirus pandemic? Yes, you can call and/or text voters on your list. We will provide you with voters’ names, landline and cell phone numbers and addresses, if available.
•  We have resources to help you succeed.

[] Talking points to motivate voters
[] Call center to refer voters to (or to call if you have questions)
[] Tools that make it easy to text your community
[] Opportunities to connect with other volunteers and share ideas
[] Support from your local NAACP branch

•  Why sign up now instead of closer to Election Day, Nov. 3? So that we may offer training and support to leaders like you to increase turnout among Black voters in the most critical election since 1860.
• What positive difference can I make by talking to people I don’t know? You do know them and they will know you because your fight is also their fight. You will have a lot in common with the voters on your list, including the hope for a better future, for equal economic opportunity and for a society without racial discrimination.
• Can I volunteer if I do not identify as Black? Of course, all are welcome to stand with the nation's first and foremost civil rights organization. There is no voice more credible than the NAACP which you will be representing.

We encourage and applaud the participation of everyone who supports the goal of responsive representative democracy.

• Where can I go for more information? BlackVoicesChangeLives.org/volunteers We also have a call center at 1-888-984-2510 (Mondays thru Fridays) in case you have questions.

Thank you for any help you can contribute.

Lonnie L. Feemster
President, NAACP Reno-Sparks Branch No. 1112
Vice-President, NAACP Tri-State Conference of Idaho/Nevada/Utah
Nevada State Director, NAACP National Voter Fund

UPDATE 10-4-2020 GMT — Hi, Andy. I signed up and I will call/text the people I am assigned. Thanks for the opportunity.
I hope you are doing well. Take care and give them hell. Susan/RENO

UPDATE 11-4-2020 GMT — THANKS TO ALL WHO VOLUNTEERED. A JOB WELL DONE.

And join the branch. We need you.

A night to remember: Solutions, not lip service

Jimmy Fallon did something on Sept. 23 that The Tonight Show has never done in more than half a century: He pre-empted his scheduled programming to focus on the Breanna Taylor grand jury walkaway. His guests for the full hour were NAACP President Derrick Johnson and MSNBC host Joy Reid whose succinct and focused solutions could solve the problems raised by Black Lives Matter. Neither Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno nor Conan O'Brien ever did anything similar. The closest came in 1968 when Harry Belafonte sat in for Carson for a week. He brought on MLK, RFK, Paul Newman, Diahann Carroll, Aretha, Petula Clark, Dionne Warwick and Lena Horne, among others. It was Johnny Carson's finest hour and he wasn't even there. It's the subject of a new Peacock Network documentary "The Sit-In" which premiered Sept. 8.

Click here to find the 9-23-2020 Tonight Show about Breanna Taylor

Republican Kentucky attorney general announces Breonna Taylor grand jury results. Streets erupt nationwide.
Washington Post news roundup / 9-24-2020 GMT

 

Our Toothless Mask Mandates
By Dr. Elizabeth Rosenthal / The New York Times op-ed 10-1-2020

A former big city ER physician, Dr. Rosenthal is an ex-NYT journalist who is now editor-in-chief of Kaiser Health News. Her 2017 book "An American Sickness: How health care became big business and how you can take it back" is still the single best encapsulation of how to fix the broken US system. (For a film on some of its best suggestions, get Michael Moore's 2007 "Sicko.") Dr. Rosenthal's latest Times piece notes that law enforcement officials refusing to enforce gubernatorial mandates in Ohio and Wisconsin are creating "a new level of lawlessness." Ditto Nevada. Two of our Cow County sheriffs have announced the same thing, as has our Reno-Sparks-Washoe turkey. Ditto the Reno Police Dept. "Not our job." And our infection rate increases accordingly. What a country.

Teamsters Union sues to enforce bus system mask mandate
NAACP President Feemster supports Teamsters fight for passenger/worker safety

In Memoriam

On August 28, 1963, W.E.B. DuBois, died in Ghana, his adopted country. A founder of the NAACP and one of the most influential black civil rights activists of the first half of the 20th Century, he was 95. A sociologist, educator and writer who received a PhD from Harvard University in 1895, he helped created the NAACP in 1909 and was a "monumental and often controversial leader," The New York Times reported.

None of us matter until the least of us matter.

Country music hall of famer and longtime Nevadan Lacy J. Dalton's Magnum Opus for Our Times
Official video
Lyric video