Today, thousands of families in San Mateo County are living a difficult situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the lack of resources to buy food has led organizations like "Nuestra Casa" to take to the streets to help all those who need a hand.
"We are, as always, working hard for our community and we are representing 'Nuestra Casa' here, which is an organization based in East Palo Alto that is helping the community a lot, especially in these times of pandemic," he said.
During the program Hablando del Tema, broadcast every Saturday on Peninsula 360 Press, the promoter of the non-profit organization, Maritza Leal, said that during their walking tours of Redwood City, where they promote the services of "Nuestra Casa", they provide information for all those in need.
"Our food program is in collaboration with the Harvest Food Bank, and what we are doing in this time of pandemic is alleviating some of the needs of families, especially low-income Latinas," she said.
He noted that Nuestra Casa gives approximately 40 or 50 pounds of food per family. These packages include vegetables, fruits, meats, dairy.
"We are serving about 1,200 families, so if we go individual we have about 6,000 individuals to whom we are distributing food," he added.
He pointed out that Nuestra Casa will have a new location at 909 Redwood City Avenue, where every second and fourth Saturday of the month - starting in February - food will be distributed to families, no matter where they live.
"Every family can come and pick up their food, no matter what race you are, no matter what you do, we're not asking for anything more than your name, your phone number and how many people are in that family," he said.
"This food program is for all families, you don't necessarily have to live in Redwood City to come and pick up food from our organization, so everyone is welcome," he added.
Meanwhile, he noted that food service is provided every Wednesday at KIPP Excelencia at 2950 Fair Oaks Avenue in Redwood City.
"We are here as promoters helping to spread the word so that all families can benefit from coming to collect their food, especially in these programs and in these difficult times where, sometimes, many people have been left without work and there are more needs," Maritza said.
He recalled that the organization Nuestra Casa accepts volunteers, so he called on all people who seek to collaborate with the cause to contact (650) 501-1846, as well as all those who have questions about the food program or any other.
Nearly 11 months into the VID-19 epidemic, the Latino community has become the most affected by the health, economic and social havoc left in its wake by the virus that continues to affect many across the country.
This is what Judith Guerrero, executive director of the non-profit organization "Coastside Hope" said and which, between 2019 and 2020 has supported 3,934 people in 1,576 homes in the San Mateo community with safety net services.
A large part of the assistance provided by the organization located at 99 Alhambra Avenue, El Granada, is for Latino families, a large part of which are Mexicans who face daily adversities, especially due to the pandemic.
Coastside Hope's assistance ranges from financial to food assistance, immigration, tax preparation and help with consulate appointments, document translation, or even support with online paperwork.
"We offer help in the form of financial assistance, it can be rented to pay for utilities or during the pandemic we have been a little bit more open and creative in the way that families can be helped," Judith said during the program We Vote that is broadcast every Saturday on Peninsula 360 Press.
"What we are seeing a lot is that Latino families have been the most affected in our community, who are the ones who serve and work in places like restaurants, hotels and in agriculture, and - they live - with the uncertainty of one month we are open and the next we have to be closed. It's difficult for them financially," he added.
In that sense, he stressed that when those families approach the organization, they usually already need help to cover more than one month's rent.
"They have been the most affected especially because some of them don't qualify for unemployment because of their immigration status in this country, or maybe those who qualify for unemployment don't realize they could apply," he said.
Judith Guerrero said she has heard of cases of Latino employees who have not been paid for their work for weeks, a situation, she said, that is not the first time that has happened, however, and because their employers issued them a letter, the association was able to find out what was going on and was able to help four families pay their rent.
"We have helped four families with rent because apart from being a victim of this problem, many of our families live in non-ideal situations, what I mean is they live in a house with four other families, and there are regulations and rules so you can't be kicked out of your house, but many times the people you are sharing with don't care and many of these families can become homeless without notification," she said. "The pandemic has forced us to be creative with everyone," he said. "During this time we are looking at ways to help them with what we can.
Judith added that they are already looking for ways to ensure that situations such as the lack of payment for Latino workers do not happen in other industries.
"The intention is not to have that happen to another worker, it's hard not to get paid when we're going through a pandemic. I've heard of people who may not know about our services and borrow money, and sometimes not from the people with the best intentions, but from those who are abusing - the situation.
In view of this, he called on all those who are going through a difficult situation due to the pandemic, not to have resources to pay their rent and especially to get food, to approach the organization whose website is www.coastsidehope.org.
Likewise, he made a and loved for all those people who want to serve their community, to be part of the organization's volunteering or to donate, since in these moments the support of everyone is needed to get the help to those who need it the most.
The competition organized by POY Latam -Pictures of the Year, Latin America- is the most prestigious competition for visual creators in Latin America. POY Latam is an organization directed by Pablo Corral Vega, Loup Langton and Kim Grinfeder.
The photographs and photo essays could be submitted in a period from 30 November to 2 January, a longer period to adapt the competition to the new normality. In addition, this year, Gael Almeida, Daniel Rodrigues, Gisela Volá, Magdalena Herrera, Mallory Benedict, and Karla Gachet served as judges and, for three days - from January 14 to 17 - reviewed each image remotely - given the pandemic by COVID-19 - and discussed its history to be the best photograph of the year.
Lalo de Almeida
Lalo de Almeida, from Brazil, won first place for the "Ibero-American Photographer of the Year" Award. His photo essay shows the process of the fires in the Brazilian Pantanal, the largest wetland on Earth.
In Argentina, second place for the "Ibero-American Photographer of the Year" award went to German photographer Sarah Pabst. "It's a huge recognition of my work and I still can't believe it," she said in her Instagram account. "I learned a lot by listening to you these days and I want to thank you also for all the effort and hours you dedicated (...)", she added. His photographs show the coldest place on planet Earth: the Antarctic continent.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which officially began 300 days ago, has left 140,241 deaths in Mexico. For his photo essay on how the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus changed the daily life of Mexico, third place for the "Ibero-American Photographer of the Year" award goes to Mexican photographer Luis Antonio Rojas.
In Peru, Florence Goupil won an honorary mention in the same category. In one of her photographs, Goupil states: "How little can we offer the indigenous peoples of these ancient lands?
To learn more about the winners, you can visit the POY Latam website: http://poylatam.org/as well as his Instagram account, where you can see a broader picture of such an ambitious contest.
On Friday morning, a Google building was evicted after a suspicious package was discovered, which ultimately turned out to be harmless, the Mountain View Police Department reported on its Twitter account.
The property located in 2000 on Casey Avenue was evacuated "as a precaution" so that the package could be of an explosive nature. This would put at risk the people inside the building at that time.
The police requested help from the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office bomb squad, who after reviewing the suspicious package, at 11:30 am determined that there was no danger, so the area was cleared.
"A preliminary investigation has revealed that the package is not dangerous. We will continue to hold the bomb squad accountable as a precaution," the Montain View police quoted in a tweet.
The former head of Mexico's National Defense Secretariat, General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, was acquitted Thursday of the crimes that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) charged him with for links to drug trafficking, which detained him at the airport in Los Angeles, California, on October 15, 2020.
In Mexico, the Attorney General's Office determined that it would not proceed criminally against General Cienfuegos, who would be charged by the New York court with collaborating with the Sinaloa cartel and who sentenced Joaquin Guzman Loera, "El Chapo".
This morning, Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said at a press conference that although the Mexican prosecutor's office did not find elements to sentence him, according to U.S. records, a legal process will take place. And that the arbitrary fabrication of crimes will not be allowed.
Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said that for the good relationship of both countries, they should trust the evidence presented by the U.S. authorities in charge of referring the former head of the headquarters to Mexico.
"On this stand I said that, for Mexico, it would be unthinkable, suicidal, to do nothingBut what the Attorney General's Office did was to summon Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda to appear," the minister said.
Meanwhile, journalism in Mexico was convulsed by the exoneration of "El Padrino".
Dolia Estévez, a Mexican journalist, exposed:
@FGRMexico failed the anti-corruption test with the exoneration of Cienfuegos, Secretary of Defense for Pena, says @WOLA_org. It expresses concern about the alarm signal it sends out about the pursuit of other files such as those of the thousands of missing persons. https://t.co/8pjz39KiPW
Anabel Hernández, a woman journalist who is known in Mexico for her investigative journalism work on Mexican political figures related to drug trafficking, as well as crimes committed by the Mexican State, declared a few months ago that the Mexican Government, specifically President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has been a victim in the outcome of Cienfuegos' exoneration.
On the other hand, Julio Astillero, a Mexican journalist, writer and lawyer pointed out what was said by Vice News reporter Keegan Hamilton, where he refers to the fact that the U.S. Department of Justice could change its mind if the Mexican government fails to proceed with the Cienfuegos case:
Attention: Reporter from @VICENews , @keegan_hamilton report: "The spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice tells @VICENews this morning:
"The United States reserves the right to resume the prosecution of Cienfuegos if the Government of Mexico fails to do so. https://t.co/C98UVTHPcr
San Francisco reported a total of 699 deaths from accidental opioid overdoses during 2020, a record number, after a 63 percent increase from 2019, the county's Office of Forensic Medicine (OCME) reported.
The report, which runs from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2020, and was released Thursday, says 82 percent of those who overdosed were men, while 18 percent were women.
In terms of race, the most affected was Caucasian, representing 48 percent of deaths, followed by people of African descent with 25 percent, Latinos, 16 percent, others, 5.0 percent, and Asians, 4.0 percent.
The report itself details that, according to the preliminary data, the ages with the highest number of incidents were 55 to 64 years old with 25 percent of total deaths; followed by 35 to 44 years old with 23 percent; 45 to 54 years old with 22 percent; 25 to 34 years old with 16 percent; 65 years old and over with 10 percent; and 15 to 24 years old with 4.0 percent.
The OCME highlights in the document that the drug that was responsible for the highest number of accidental overdoses was fentanyl, followed by methamphetamines, cocaine, heroin and medical opioids.
Experts believe the increase in overdoses may have been driven by the VID-19 epidemic, because while isolation helps stop the spread of the virus, for drug users it has increased the possibility of taking hard drugs that lead to death.
More than 20 percent of accidental overdose deaths in San Francisco were in the Tenderloin, followed by SOMA, Nob Hill and Inner Mission.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has not yet issued its report on the number of deaths in the country due to accidental opioid overdoses, but in 2019 it said that nearly 71,000 people died from such causes, much of which were due to fentanyl.
After the election results last November, which gave Democrat Joe Biden the victory as U.S. president, were positive for most voters, they may relax and stop participating actively in the country's politics, so "it will take something catastrophic for people to feel that they need to participate at the levels that they did in 2020.
This was pointed out by Myrna Perez, director of the Elections and Electoral Rights Program at the Brennan Center, who noted that because this election turned out the way some people wanted it to, people will no longer feel the urgency to participate.
"It doesn't take a historic, outrageous or off-limits leader to inspire people to get involved, but we need to have a stake in our country every day all the time," he said during the virtual session "How safe is your right to vote?"by Ethnic Media Services.
The expert said an election was achieved despite incredibly powerful forces that wanted to prevent black and African-American voters from participating, and in the midst of a SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
"We dealt with it, we dealt with a once-in-a-century global pandemic. We did it in spite of that crisis and we did it in spite of politicians, at all levels of government, who tried, intentionally, to confuse, mislead and lie to the voters," he said.
This was accomplished, he said, because 35 states changed some of their policies, which facilitated the vote after the pandemic was declared by COVID-19.
This, he said, "only happened because Americans from all walks of life got involved," which meant that it took the potentially widespread disenfranchisement of people who usually are not, to enable them to actively participate in change.
However, people from the African American, Latino and Asian American communities have long seen their voting rights violated, "having to deal all the time with barriers, inaccessibility and lack of response.
He stressed that during this last electoral process it was learned that disinformation can be used as a form of intimidation, since there are people who even though they know what they are saying is wrong, they spread it anyway. -At the Brennan Center- "we had more reports of intimidation than in any other election".
While there were no coordinated or organized assaults by the "proud boys" - a racist pro-Trump group - to disrupt the voting, "there were many what I call "rando jerks" - random jerks - with guns and trucks who blocked access to the ballot, scared the voters or threatened them.
"The most important thing that we learned - in the past elections - is that cracks in our system, that impact on communities of color in every election and some other things that go wrong, can affect the community at large and therefore we are all better off when our systems have the preparedness, resilience and planning to withstand the challenges our country faces," whether it's a pandemic or foreign attackers.
"We, as a country, depend on our choices as possible ways to resolve political differences and transfer power. Our democracy works best when it includes all of us.
Myrna Perez
The political scientist from Yale stressed that "we need to make sure that every day we are defending a solid, participative and inclusive democracy", a task in which journalists can also participate because of their high capacity to reach all citizens.
For her part, Gabriela D. Lemus, president of the Progressive Congress, said that in 2020, Latino political power increased through education, mobilization and community activation, mainly in California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Texas and Florida, as well as Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia, places where the concentration of Latinos is strong but also emerging.
He recalled that the Latino community is the largest proportion of non-white voters in the country, with a record 32 million representing about 13 percent of all eligible voters.
He added that of the 8.6 million Latinos who had an early vote, 2.4 million registered for the first time, making it the second largest block of voters, so their participation was decisive in states like Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
He also said that part of the reason Latinos are not going to vote is because they don't see people like them trying to run for office or because their problems as voters are not being addressed.
"The assumption is that Latino voters are primarily concerned about immigration, which is not necessarily true... it could be number four or five on the list after education, health and the economy.
Gabiela Lemus
Judith A. Browne Dianis, executive director of the Advancement Project, said this is a time when we must be reflective about race, not only because of the people who took over the U.S. capital or the Capitol, but because of all the racial baggage they carried with them.
"They came carrying Confederate flags with the idea that the Confederation would rise again, and what we saw on display in terms of the police response at that time underlines for us the unequal treatment of people," he said.
He said that the insurrection seen on January 6 at the Capitol "is about the rise of the Confederacy and the rise of white supremacy at a time when we have a rising majority, and therefore we should not view the riots as an isolated incident. They were part of a larger effort in the halls of state and federal government to undermine the will of the people.
Those actions, he explained, were motivated by the same anti-democratic sentiment that inspired lawmakers to challenge last November's election results, based on unfounded conspiracies, lies and misinformation about the election fraud perpetrated, specifically in communities of color.
Such attacks on the African-American community, he said, were made on cities where people of color came in record numbers, "from Milwaukee to Philadelphia, Detroit and Atlanta, which is where they wanted to focus their energies, because they wanted to continue the narrative of the criminality of people of color who were supposedly trying to steal an election.
"We know that the right to vote does not live explicitly in the Constitution, and what we hope is that we can get to a point where the Constitution recognizes it, so that when we file suit, the courts will treat it the same way they treat the First Amendment," he said.
Part of the equation, he said, is redistricting, "that's a concern that we'll see, I think definitely over time the growing majority will mean that state legislatures will look like us - a mixed bag of participants - will happen over time.
Currently, what worries Browne Dianis most is the continuous misinformation that exists on social networks, "they allow us to say what we want and act as if it were a fact. We already know what the truth is, what is false versus the truth. So how are we going to make sure that our people and my people of color in particular get to the truth?
Telegram Messenger - a private messaging service - takes a step forward and is closing "channels", public chat groups with a right-wing extremist faction where neo-nazism and belief in QAnon are encouraged. This mainly prevents the organisation of groups in the US against Joe Biden's presidential transition.
In addition, it was recently announced that WhatsApp Messenger - Facebook's competition with Telegram - added new terms and conditions where user information is compromised. This has forced many users to download Telegram Messenger as an alternative to WhatsApp for those who cannot use a more robust instant messaging protocol such as Apple's iMessage.
In the last few days, it was reported that Telegram Messenger had suddenly added 25 million new users.
Since last week, managers of the different social networks have responded against violence, with the exception of Parler -a social network similar to Twitter with no security filters- which was forced to close down due to its inefficient work in filtering hate messages.
It should be noted that most social networks have turned their backs on the current US president, the last one to suspend his official account was Snapchat.
In recent days, the United States has faced an intense debate in the run-up to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, and there are fears that social networks will serve as a breeding ground for hate groups that promote discrimination and racism and thus increase the likelihood of armed and violent protest in the run-up to the January 20 transition of power.
Apple announced on Tuesday a set of major new projects as part of its Racial Justice and Equity Initiative (RJI), which will have a $100 million budget to help dismantle systemic barriers to opportunity and combat injustices faced by communities of color.
In a statement, Cupertino's giant pointed out that these comprehensive and forward-looking efforts include the Propel Center, a unique global learning and innovation center for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).
In addition, an Apple Developer Academy to support technology and coding education for students in Detroit; and venture capital funding for entrepreneurs of color and African descent.
Together, Apple's REJI commitments aim to expand opportunities for communities of color across the country and help build the next generation of diverse leaders.
"We are all responsible for the urgent work of building a more just and equitable world, and these new projects send a clear signal of Apple's enduring commitment. We are launching REJI's latest initiatives with partners from a wide range of industries and backgrounds, from students to teachers, developers and entrepreneurs, and community organizers to advocates for justice, working together to empower communities that have endured the worst of racism and discrimination for far too long.
Tim Cook, Apple CEO
In June 2020, Apple announced REJI in the wake of "Black Lives Matter" protests around the world following the murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and many others. The initiative builds on Apple's work to promote racial equality in education, the economy and the criminal justice system, and is led by Apple's Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, Lisa Jackson.
"Everyone deserves equal access to opportunity regardless of skin color or zip code."
Lisa Jackson, Apple's Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives
Apple's $25 million contribution will enable the Propel Center to support HBCU students and faculty through a robust virtual platform, a physical campus in the historic Atlanta University Center, as well as on-campus activations at partner institutions.
The center of studies is designed to support the next generation of diverse leaders by providing innovative curricula, technology support, career opportunities and scholarship programs.
"For too long, communities of color have faced grave injustices and institutional barriers in their pursuit of the American dream, and we are proud to lend our voices and resources to building new engines of opportunity that empower, inspire and create meaningful change.
Lisa Jackson, Apple's Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives
Importantly, the Propel Center will offer a wide range of educational careers, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, agricultural technologies, social justice, entertainment arts, application development, augmented reality, design and creative arts, and career coaching, among others.
Apple experts will help develop curricula and provide ongoing tutoring and learning support, as well as offer internship opportunities.
With only 7 days to go before the current U.S. president, Donald Trump, finishes his administration, he could become the first president to be removed from office and be denied the right to run again for a second term.
This Wednesday, House Democrats and some Republicans will vote to remove Donald Trump from office, just one week after a mob riot on Capitol Hill killed four people and is believed to have been encouraged by the president's own hateful and polarizing speech.
The speed with which the vote was called, as well as the fact that a group of Republicans joined the cause, makes clear the anger and disappointment felt by legislators after considering that Trump was inciting the troublemakers.
Thus, the House impeachment resolution accuses Trump of only one article, "incitement to insurrection".
So far, five Republicans have said they will vote to impeach the president, but House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise oppose the impeachment process.
While impeachment is unlikely, Democrats have quickly rallied around the use of impeachment in the final days of Trump's presidency, which will serve as a response to misconduct.
Various media have pointed out that there are fears of possible riots next Wednesday, January 20, when finally, the president elect of the United States, Joe Biden, will be sworn in as the new president of the American union.
Nancy Pelosi has set aside Republican efforts to take different action, such as censorship, in response to Trump's role in the riots.
The House speaker appointed the impeachment managers Tuesday night, a team of nine Democrats that will be led by Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland.
