Do not forget and abandon the U.S. Virgin Islands
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez
The most familiar face of a Virgin Islander on the U.S. mainland is Tim Duncan’s— multiple NBA championship power forward for San Antonio Spurs. Born April 25, 1976 on the island of St. Croix, Duncan competed as a swimmer in grade school, however his path was changed in the ninth grade when Hurricane Hugo destroyed the island’s only only Olympic-sized swimming pool.
Duncan is now taking on two more hurricanes — Irma and Maria which have devastated his home.
It has been difficult to get news about what is going on in the VI — the valid complaints about lack of mainland media coverage of Puerto Rico — quadruple when you look at the VI (that goes for the rest of the Caribbean as well — like Barbuda and Dominica)
Essence, had this story: U.S. Virgin Islands Rep Questions The Government’s Response To Hurricane Recovery, documenting the neglect shown in the relief and recovery — which is ongoing.
In September, the United States Virgin Islands was rocked by two category 5 hurricanes. Irma made landfall on St. John and St. Thomas on September 6.
Less than two weeks later, Maria barreled through, leaving another casualty — St. Croix. In the aftermath of the devastating storms that claimed lives, the media has given the American territories very little attention. On Sunday, the United States Virgin Islands delegate to the House of Representatives, Stacey Plaskett, went on AM Joy to share the distresses of her constituents.
“I have really grave concerns about the recovery that’s happening in the U.S. Virgin Islands at this time,” Plaskett told host Joy-Ann Reid. “We lost both of our hospitals. We are operating with one emergency room. We have medevaced all of the in-patients off of the islands to the mainland and I have yet to see on the ground discussions about how a real hospital will be put in place.” She continued, “There are discussions about an operating room in a box. That’s not going to suffice for what the people of the Virgin Islands need.
Another concern of the congresswoman — distro centers have been set up, but little has been done to get resources to the people who are unable to drive to them. The elderly especially, are suffering. Plaskett added that there are some islanders who have been without water for a week and she has made this known to the federal government, prompting Elijah Cummings and other Dems on the Oversight Committee to seek an emergency hearing to discuss the Trump Administration’s response to the devastation in the V.I. and Puerto Rico
What stood out for me was this comment by Plaskett (my bold)
Puerto Rico dominated news headlines last week as many celebrities lent their voice to the cause. Plaskett pointed out, “We have yet to see that level of interest on the ground in the U.S. Virgin Islands.” It’s also left Americans there wondering if it's because the USVI is a primarily Black territory.
Here she is talking about it on AM Joy:
Joy Reid is now in St. Thomas.
Given that too few of our fellow Americans know much about the US Virgin Islands, and that U.S.Virgin Islanders are U.S.citizens — I want to start with a map.
USVI Demographics:
In 2010 the population was 106,405,and mostly Afro-Caribbean.
Ethnic groups:
The racial makeup of the U.S. Virgin Islands was:[62]
Black or Afro-Caribbean: 76.0% (66.1% Non-Hispanic Black)
White: 15.7% (13.5% Non-Hispanic Whites)
Asian: 1.4%
Mixed: 2.1%
Other: 4.5%
Hispanic or Latino of any race: 17.4% (10.3% Puerto Rican, 5.4% Dominican)
Many residents can trace their ancestry to other Caribbean islands, especially Puerto Rico and the Lesser Antilles.
The population is clearly black — which gives rise to the conclusion that a racist controlled US government isn’t going to go out of its way for Virgin Islanders. Unlike Puerto Ricans, who have about 5 million citizens in the contiguous states — the number of Virgin Islanders on the mainland is far smaller.
In 2015, the U.S. Virgin Islands origin population was 20,375 in the continental United States. The US mainland will likely see more Virgin Islanders after Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria devastated the islands in September 2017. Many lost houses and jobs, and will move away from the islands for better opportunities
History and acquisition by the U.S.
The United States Virgin Islands (USVI; also called the American Virgin Islands), officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, is a group of islands in the Caribbean that is an insular area of the United States located 40 miles (64 km) east of Puerto Rico. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.
The U.S. Virgin Islands consist of the main islands of Saint Croix, Saint John, and Saint Thomas, and many other surrounding minor islands. The total land area of the territory is 133.73 square miles (346.36 km2). The territory's capital is Charlotte Amalie on the island of Saint Thomas.
Previously the Danish West Indies of the Kingdom of Denmark–Norway, they were sold to the United States by Denmark in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies of 1916. They are classified by the U.N. as a Non-Self-Governing Territory, and are currently an organized, unincorporated United States territory. The U.S. Virgin Islands are organized under the 1954 Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands and have since held five constitutional conventions. The last and only proposed Constitution, adopted by the Fifth Constitutional Convention of the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2009, was rejected by the U.S. Congress in 2010, which urged the convention to reconvene to address the concerns Congress and the Obama Administration had with the proposed document. The Fifth Constitutional Convention of the U.S. Virgin Islands met in October 2012 to address these concerns, but was not able to produce a revised Constitution before its October 31 deadline.
Though I have simply cited a brief segment from wikipedia — if you want a complete history I would strongly suggest you read America's Virgin Islands: A History of Human Rights and Wrongs, by Dr. William M. Boyer
This second edition of America's Virgin Islands by William W. Boyer is the only history of the United States' territory covering the period from 1492 to 2010. Especially emphasized is the period since 1917 when the U.S. acquired the Islands from Denmark. Constituting three small Caribbean islands St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John each is unique, but together they are widely known as a favorite tourist destination featuring sun, sand and surf. In many respects, the territory is a microcosm of the human family. The diversity of its physical environment is matched by the diversity of its people. The focal point of the book is a record of the struggle of the Islanders' greater number as slaves, then serfs, and lastly as citizens to gain control of their own destiny. Broadly conceived, this is a history of human rights and human wrongs. The author does not merely portray the history of the Islands and their people; he also shows how the Islanders share the same aspirations as other colonial subjects. In so doing he taps previously unused sources. The relationship between the USA and the Virgin Islands has been marked by indifference and vacillation on the part of American officials. Moreover, thousands of tourists who flock to the territory annually are unaware of the Islands checkered and rich history. For many, the Islands are simply a tropical paradise. America's Virgin Islands is a fascinating, extensively documented, and detailed source of information, valuable to those interested in a political and cultural perspective, to those interested in African American or Caribbean history, and likewise to those who live in or visit the Islands.
For even further exploration of this book, and critiques — you can listen to/view a panel discussion the work.
Virgin Islands history is tied to our own, which I discussed in The Caribbean, the U.S., and how their past and present are intertwined, pointing out that Alexander Hamilton grew up on St. Croix.
The United States, after acquiring these colonies sent in military overlords — since the point of the purchase was primarily as part of a U.S. defense strategy. The first Governors of the USVI were from the US Navy, up until 1931. Then there were civil appointees until 1969. Since then they have been elected.
After Virgin Islanders were given the right to elect their own Governors — all of them have been black or Puerto Rican (Juan Francisco Luis was born on Vieques, but brought to St.Croix as a two month old) .
I am going to digress from history and political figures for a moment, and introduce a note of culture. Jon Lucien was born January 8, 1942 on the British VI island of Tortola — but raised on St. Thomas. When I hear him sing, I am transported there, remembering sailing with island friends around the Caribbean Sea and eating fried fish and fungi on the beach.
He is quoted as saying, “"I hope to heal people who are sad and spiritually dead, because even though I don't pray in the music, the spirit is still there.”
The USVI is going to need a lot of spiritual healing — alongside of a mountain of material aid.
Here are some ways to give:
Fund for The Virgin Islands
Don’t let our brothers and sisters in the Caribbean feel forgotten and abandoned.
Share this information with your family, friends, and social networks.
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News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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If you let the FBI tell it, Black folks–not White supremacists, White terrorists or the president–are posing a grave danger to the country.
Foreign Policy reports the FBI has declared “Black Identity Extremists”–Black Americans on the quest to avenge police brutality–to be a major threat to law enforcement.
The August 3 report by the FBI’s counter-terrorism division was released just days before the White supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. During the rally, several Black Americans were assaulted by the demonstrators and a woman was killed.
“The FBI assesses it is very likely Black Identity Extremist (BIE) perceptions of police brutality against African Americans spurred an increase in premeditated, retaliatory lethal violence against law enforcement and will very likely serve as justification for such violence,” the FBI report read, according to Foreign Policy.
“The FBI assesses it is very likely incidents of alleged police abuse against African Americans since then have continued to feed the resurgence in ideologically motivated, violent criminal activity within the BIE movement,” it continued.
Former FBI official Michael German made an apt characterization of the FBI’s new focal point: “Basically, it’s black people who scare them.”
According to Foreign Policy, “BIE” was not a term known to be used by counter-terrorism experts prior to the report. Daryl Johnson, who previously worked as an intelligence analyst for the Department of Homeland Security, is perplexed by the establishment of the threat.
“I’m at a loss,” he said. “I have no idea of why they would come up with a new term.”
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The Indian Ocean island has already seen 231 plague cases and 33 deaths — and it’s early in the season. Vox: Plague is spreading at an alarming rate in Madagascar. Yes, plague. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
People in Madagascar are scrambling to get their hands on antibiotics and face masks, while public gatherings have been canceled, as a rare pneumonic plague epidemic spreads quickly across the country.
Plague is the deadly flea-borne bacterium you might associate with the Middle Ages, when the “Black Death” killed 50 million people, wiping out most of Europe’s population. But it's still around today, even in the United States. In some countries, particularly Madagascar, plague is endemic, and flare-ups sometimes cause public health emergencies — like the one that’s quietly brewing there right now.
As of October 6, 231 plague cases there had been identified, as well as 33 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. Twenty of Madagascar’s 114 districts are now affected by the epidemic.
Madagascar typically sees about 400 cases each year. But what makes this outbreak worrying is that plague has now spread through the capital and to coastal cities, “which we have not seen before,” World Health Organization spokesperson Tarik Jašarević told Vox.
Also unlike previous outbreaks, this year’s involves mostly pneumonic plague, a more dangerous form of the disease than the much more common bubonic plague.
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IN THE warren of alleyways that make up Rocinha, Brazil’s largest favela, the air is heavy with foreboding. A feud between factions of the Amigos dos Amigos (Friends of Friends, or ADA), a drug gang that has controlled the slum since 2004, erupts in daily violence. Police in patrol cars creep through the lanes, their rifles poking out of the windows. Residents share news of shoot-outs on WhatsApp. “We are scared to walk around,” says Raquel, who sells colourful prints to a few brave tourists. At a command post a squad of policemen prepares for yet another operation. “It’s a never-ending war,” sighs José (not his real name), an officer drafted in from a nearby neighbourhood.
The city of Rio de Janeiro, which hosted the Olympic games in 2016, is having a grim year. Shoot-outs in favelas, or shantytowns, have killed dozens of people. A third of adults aged 18 to 24 are out of work. Many Olympic venues are abandoned; a fire in July damaged the velodrome. “Rio is in a real hole,” says Robert Muggah of the Igarapé Institute, a Rio-based think-tank.
Before the games began, Rio’s then-mayor, Eduardo Paes, boasted that the city would be the “safest place in the world”. Thanks to the deployment of 85,000 soldiers and police officers during the games, the claim did not seem ridiculous. Construction work temporarily protected cariocas, as Rio’s residents are called, from Brazil’s deep economic recession. Despite embarrassments like green diving-pool water the games were a success.
Not so the aftermath. The state government recorded 2,976 homicides in the first half of 2017, a rise of 14% on the previous year. Fifteen gun battles a day take place in Rio’s metropolitan region. More than 100 policemen have been killed so far this year in the state. Some experts fear that the murder rate could go back to levels of a decade ago (see chart). In July the federal government sent 8,500 troops back to Rio.
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A Bay Area teenager is inventing an app to tackle police brutality. 17-year-old George Hofstetter created the app CopStop which aims to inform users on the best behavioral practices when being apprehended by police officers.
CopStop is being developed by his own company George Hofstetter Technologies Inc. which he founded when he was just 16 years old. The app will essentially a digitalized version of the conversation Black parents often have with children about being approached by law enforcement official.
The app has yet to be released as the young techie has to fix a few errors. But it may be a while before we get to see it as his main focus is applying to college. In the meantime, apps Five-O, Cop Watch and I’m Getting Arrested are also focused on ensuring users’ safety around cops.
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But many angry and befuddled Dove lovers spent the weekend wondering what mark Dove was trying to hit in the first place.
The ire-inducing advertisement — a static compilation of four photos — was released Saturday afternoon. The first frame shows a dark-skinned woman in what appears to be a bathroom, a bottle of Dove body wash in the lower right-hand corner of the picture.
In subsequent frames, the woman reaches down and lifts up her shirt (and apparently the rest of her skin/costume) to reveal a smiling white woman.
Offended Dove users erupted, and the company quickly apologized. But the two-sentence Twitter note and a slightly longer message on Facebook left it unclear what exactly the ad was trying to convey.
Unilever, Dove’s parent company, did not respond to Washington Post requests for comment.
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