Source: REACH Media / Reach Media
Happy 14th Birthday C.J.
1. Storms Hit Already Weather-Weary U.S.
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What You Need to Know:
Another Spring weekend meant another string of deadly tornadoes that initially struck the South and the Midwest Friday, before hitting the East Saturday. At least 30 people were confirmed dead as officials and crews determined more than 70-weekend tornadoes occurred, in no less than 12 states. States of emergency were declared in the Midwest down to the South, after Friday storms to the East Coast states of New Jersey and Delaware following Saturday tornadoes.
A state of emergency was declared in Arkansas, the hardest hit of the more than a dozen states that felt the wrath of the storms. An EF-3 tornado hit Little Rock and surrounding areas with winds up to 165 mph, cutting a wide swath, and moving 20 to 25 miles, while on the ground.
One person was killed in Illinois as a storm caused the roof of a performance venue to collapse in the north-central town of Belvidere, near Rockford. More than two dozen people seeking shelter in the building were injured. Deaths were also reported in Indiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. To the north, tornadoes were reported in southern Wisconsin and more than a foot of snow in areas around Green Bay.
Governor Bill Lee traveled to McNairy County Saturday after storms rolled toward Tennessee Friday night, in which one person died and 28 were injured. Authorities reported storms slammed into towns, north of Memphis, TN. Lee said the storm topped off the worst week he ever experienced as governor of Tennessee, referring to Monday’s mass shooting at a Nashville grammar school.
ABC News reported a disaster emergency was declared in Jackson Township in Ocean County, NJ after the storm pushed to the East Saturday. There were two tornadoes, one in New Jersey, and the other in Delaware. Trees were pulled out of the ground and then tossed into structures as heavy winds yanked down power lines.
There was one fatality in Sussex County, Delaware, where widespread residential damage was reported. The National Weather Service said one man died in a collapsed building. This was the first tornado-related fatality in Delaware in 40 years.
Why You Need to Know:
Millions of people were on alert Sunday afternoon as more storms were predicted in the Southwest.
Forewarned is forearmed….
2. Protests Ring Out at Tennessee Capitol
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What You Need to Know:
Calls for action rang throughout the Capitol building in Nashville, TN, Thursday. The protests followed days of mourning after Monday’s mass shooting at a local grammar school in which three children and three adults were killed.
Chanting, “Do Something,” “The Time is Now,” “6 Dead, How Many More?” and “Do Your Job,” hundreds of mothers and fathers brought their children while high school students came on their own, demanding change and calling for additional gun safety.
The Tennessean reported, “The House galleries were cleared of protesters as of about 11:30 a.m., and a five-minute recess took longer. It took about 50 minutes for the remaining protesters to leave the Capitol rotunda. At one point, protesters in the rotunda silently held up six fingers, representing the six victims killed in Monday’s shooting.”
The uprisings against guns followed the mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville Monday morning, in which three children and three adults were killed in the pre-K-6th grade school.
The Tennessean reported on the victims: Mike Hill, 61, was Covenant School’s janitor for the last 13 years. Cynthia Peak, 61, was filling in as a substitute teacher at Covenant on Monday. Katherine Koonce, 60, was the head of school at Covenant, who her family said, “gave her life to protect the students she loved.” Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all 9, were students at the school.
The New York Post reported, “A fundraiser for slain Nashville school custodian Mike Hill. The crowdfunding for the African American father of eight, affectionately known as “Big Mike,” collected more than $350,000 in just one day — over 14 times its goal.”
“Mike, thank you for protecting Nashville’s children,” said the verified GoFundMe appeal set up by Nashville parents “dedicated to honoring this hero.”
During press conferences following the shootings, Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake announced the heavily armed shooter, identified as 28-year-old Audrey Hale, purchased seven guns from various local stores, including the three weapons she carried into the school and used in the mass killing.
The New York Post continued, “The shooter was also being treated for an emotional disorder — and had hidden her cache of weapons from her parents.
‘She was under care, doctor’s care, for an emotional disorder,” Drake said, adding that cops “knew nothing about the treatment she was receiving.’”
“The police chief did not elaborate on what kind of emotional disorder she was suffering.”
Why You Need to Know:
Some politicians have said there is “nothing we can do.” Statements like this make it obvious that the onus is on the people. Protesting at the Capitol is the first step. Voting out the tools of the gun and ammunition companies is the most effective action.
Are you registered to vote?
3. Activists’ Network in Mexico Helps U.S. Women Get Abortions
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What You Need to Know:
Marcela Castro’s office in Chihuahua is more than 100 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, yet the distance doesn’t prevent her from assisting women in the United States in circumventing recently imposed bans on abortion.
From the headquarters of Marea Verde Chihuahua, an organization that has supported reproductive rights in northern Mexico since 2018, Castro and her colleagues provide virtual guidance, as well as shipments of abortion pills for women who want to terminate a pregnancy on their own.
This abortion model, in which no travel, clinics, or prescriptions are needed, sparked interest in the U.S. — and a surge of requests for help — as the Supreme Court moved to eliminate the constitutional right to abortion last year. But the model was developed by Mexican activists through decades of facing abortion bans and restrictions in most of Mexico’s 32 states.
“We don’t offer medical attention because we are not doctors,” Castro said. “Part of our work, though, is to remove the stigma toward abortion. Although it is a medical procedure, it does not require hospital measures.”
To safely advise women on self-managed medical abortions, Castro and her colleagues were trained to become “acompañantes” — capable of serving as a guide and partner, whether in person or from long distance. They have carefully studied national abortion guidelines and they know by heart some protocols established by the World Health Organization.
Since they do not charge for the help they provide, most “acompañantes” need jobs outside the organizations where they volunteer. Among them are lawyers, psychologists, and other professionals. Over the years, they have created a nationwide network that has secured abortion access for Mexican and foreign women, whether or not abortion is legal where they live.
“We are ordinary women working for reproductive justice,” Castro said. “We seek what the State has denied us out of prohibition.”
Mexican women face a scenario that resembles the U.S., where more than a dozen states – including Texas — have imposed sweeping abortion bans. Unless it’s justified under certain exceptions, abortion is considered a crime in two-thirds of Mexico’s states.
4. A Black Man’s Remains Were Found After Reporting White Men Were Targeting Him
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WRITTEN & CONTRIBUTED BY COY MALONE
What You Need to Know:
Rasheem Carter, a 25-year-old Black man, went missing in October 2022. This was two days after his last known sighting in Laurel, Mississippi, and after claiming he was being targeted by White men.
On November 2, 2022, Carter’s remains were found in a wooded area south of Taylorsville. The Smith County Sheriff’s Office reported it “had no reason to believe foul play was involved.” Smith County Sheriff Joel Houston currently supports his office’s initial determination, saying earlier evidence “didn’t suggest anything…Nothing is being swept under the rug…There’s nothing to hide.” Houston added that the department is awaiting results of search warrants to rule out foul play.
However, Carter’s head was severed from his body, with his spinal cord recovered in an area separate from his head, while some of his body parts are still missing.
“One thing is for certain … This was not a natural killing. This was not a natural death. This represents a young man who was killed,” attorney Ben Crump said during a press conference on March 10, while releasing the findings of the autopsy report by the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office.
According to the autopsy, the cause and manner of death were undetermined, and the conditions of the remains at the time of the autopsy made it difficult to determine the exact timing of the injuries because signs of animal activity on the remains clouded the picture.
Crump and his co-counsel Carlos Moore are calling for the U.S. Department of Justice to open a federal investigation. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is currently assisting in the investigation.
Days before he went missing, Carter told his mother in text messages the name of a person he felt threatened by and said, “if anything happens… he’s responsible for it. … He got these guys wanting to kill me.”
“My son told me that it was three truckloads of White guys trying to kill him…”, his mother, Tiffany Carter, said. Carter visited the Taylorsville Police Department twice before his disappearance but was brushed off by police.
Why You Need to Know:
The city covered up a lynching.
(SOURCE: WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM)
5. The Resurrection Of Jesus
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WRITTEN AND CONTRIBUTED BY WILLIE MCIVER
What You Need to Know:
For Christians, the meaning of THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS is that God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day after His crucifixion. The Resurrection was a clear signal from God that His son, who had conquered death, was now Lord of all and had arrived to save all people from their sins. Jesus being raised from the dead is a celebration of the victory over sin, death, and Satan. Now, this does not mean we will not experience those items. It means that we will not be left as “orphans to have those things consume us.” In John 14:18, Jesus said, ” I will not leave you as orphans.” He says, “I am going to die. And when I do, you will go through the orphan experience.” So, we may go through some things… but He will be right there with us. That is the promise of The Resurrection.
The Resurrection is a promise from Jesus that if you believe in Him, you WILL live! Jesus said to Martha in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live.” We as humans, were in bad shape on earth before Jesus died and rose again. We were out of control, committing sins left and right and the only path God saw to save us was to sacrifice His only son. John 3:16 reads, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” The resurrection assured us of future resurrections. Because Jesus died and rose again, we can too!
1 Corinthians 15:20 says, “But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” The resurrection gives us the power to live the “Christian Life.” The Bible doesn’t say that as people here on earth, we will live sinless just because Jesus died for our sins. But we can be “sinless” not by our own abilities, but by the spirit of Jesus that lives in us.
For Christians…THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS is proof that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son Of God, and that He lives on earth with us and guides us every day! HAPPY RESURRECTION WEEK! Let’s celebrate!
With agape love,
With Agape Love, Willie Mae
