October 2, 2023

Black community

Not only are Black people more likely to contract and die from COVID-19, but because of systemic inequities, Black-owned businesses more likely to lack sufficient resources needed to stay afloat and protect their customers. (Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA)

OP-ED: Black-Owned Businesses Look to the FDA to Protect Them

A year ago, in a quick fix reaction to the pandemic, the FDA released emergency guidance that lowered the standards for germ-fighting products like hand sanitizer in order to get more on the market. This led to an ongoing wave of hand sanitizers that both smell horrible and seem to do virtually nothing. Now, a year later, city streets are refilling, businesses are starting to operate at full capacity, and we have a more reliable supply of hand sanitizer. Yet, businesses are still providing questionable products, and we are even seeing reports of products with toxic carcinogens steadily pop up.

PRESS ROOM: NNPA President Moderates Forum on Systemic Racism

NNPA NEWSWIRE — National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President & CEO, Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., has moderated each of the two previous forums and also serves as the moderator for the third installment. Dr. Chavis first received international recognition in 1971 as the leader of the Wilmington Ten, he was wrongfully convicted of committing arson and received the longest sentence before winning his appeal in 1980.

PRESS ROOM: Princell Hair Named President & CEO Of the Black News Channel

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Hair brings a unique background in diverse platforms including general management, experience leading a national news network, a regional sports business and several local television news departments. He has reimagined programming lineups in his career discovering new, engaging talent, enhancing linear audience reach and vastly growing digital user engagement.

Big Mac Racism at McDonald’s

NNPA NEWSWIRE — “Under the guise of reorganizing the way they manage the franchise system, the restaurant system across the country, they basically decimated the ranks of the African American leadership and employees,” Caruso said. “That to me is one of the most glaring act of intentional discrimination that we saw in the case. And we lay those numbers out in greater detail in the complaint itself. But that was very, very, serious discrimination in employment, and it’s over and above a lot of other things that came before and other things that have come after, but that’s kind of a centerpiece of the discrimination against the executive employees, including Domineca and Vicki.”

COMMENTARY: The Black Church Faces an Atypical Crisis

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Blacks in the U.S. have been disproportionately affected during the pandemic. Although African Americans only compose 6 percent of the population in the state of California, Blacks comprise 10.6 percent of the COVID-19 deaths. This has been attributed to the fact that a number of Blacks have underlying and sometimes untreated conditions — cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, etc. — which compound problems, when paired with the coronavirus.

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