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Children’s Theatre of Charlotte production of ‘GRIMMZ’ puts hip-hop in fairytale classics THE VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY SINCE 1906 TThhee CChhaarrlloottttee PPoosstt WEEK OF DECEMBER 31, 2020 VOLUME 47, NUMBER 17 WWW.THECHARLOTTEPOST.COM $1.50 GIBBIE HARRIS « NEWSMAKER OF THE YEAR More stimulus funding sought Adams among House coalition for increase in federal relief By Herbert L. White [email protected] U.S. Rep. Alma Adams wants the federal government wants a larger stimulus for Americans coping with an economy weakened by the coronavirus pan- demic. The Charlotte Dem- ocrat voted Monday for the Caring for Americans with Sup- plemental Help Act of 2020 to increase the amount of money Adams struggling Americans receive in a second round of direct TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST payments to $2,000. President Donald Trump on Sunday signed a Mecklenburg County Health Director Gibbie Harris,The Post’s 2020 Newsmaker of the Year, has been an outspoken advocate of health bill that keeps the federal govern- care equity in marginalized communities long before the coronavirus pandemic. ment open and pays $600 in sti- mulus funding despite calling the legislation “a disgrace” for not in- cluding larger payments. Repub- licans, particularly in the Advocate for public health GOP-leaning Senate, opposed the $2,000 checks while a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers in the Dem- ocratic-controlled House of Repre- sentatives passed it. before, beyond COVID-19 “I was proud to vote to authorize a $2,000 Economic Impact Pay- ment, also known as the stimulus Mecklenburg County health director’s goal: Safety and equity in community check, to help our hardest-hit fam- By Herbert L. White 335,000 Americans and caused dispro- any level – to earn Newsmaker of the ilies during this holiday season,” [email protected] portionate damage in the Black com- Year. U.S. Senate candidate Harvey Gantt Adams said in a statement. “House COVID-19 put public health in the fore- munity, eclipsed both. earned the inaugural distinction in 1990. Democrats have been proud to front of conversations about race, pol- As of Dec. 28, there were 60,930 cases In an interview with The Post, Harris support increased stimulus checks itics and safety. of novel coronavirus infection in Meck- discussed how COVID-19 changed Meck- since voting for the HEROES Act in And Gibbie Harris is in the middle of lenburg County with 552 deaths. It’s lenburg County, the disparities it re- May. American families need this Mecklenburg County’s response to is- Harris’ job to impart details in a pan- vealed, lessons learned for future help now.” sues the pandemic has laid bare over the demic world: the grim reality of infec- pandemics and public response to social Adams has long supported in- last 10 months. tions and death during a global health distancing and face coverings. Answers creased direct cash payments Harris, the county’s health director, is crisis, working with government are edited for brevity. through the CARES Act, which in- The Post’s Newsmaker of the Year. If agencies and the medical community on How COVID changed daily living: cluded the original Economic Im- 2020 were a typical news year, presiden- testing protocols and access to vaccines, COVID has turned everybody’s world pact Payment, as well as the tial politics and racial justice activism which recently arrived in limited supply. upside down this year, I believe, in any HEROES Act in May, which would would have dominated coverage, but the Harris is the first public health profes- number of ways. It’s more than a single have authorized an additional coronavirus, which has killed more than sional – and first health professional at Please see HARRIS | 2A $1,200. “There are 10 million fewer jobs than when the pandemic began,” Please see ADAMS | 4A ‘Sick buildings’ add Jury’s out on to COVID-linked efficacy of inequity across state death penalty By Jennifer Allen for justice COASTAL REVIEW ONLINE A task force established earlier this year to address By Herbert L. White inequalities amplified by COVID-19 in communities [email protected] of color recommends looking at pressing public Capital punishment is the sub- health issues such as the “sick building” problem ject of demands for a that can increase the spread of the coronavirus. review of its use in The problem is caused by legacy pollutants — North Carolina. radon, asbestos, mildew, mold — that arise from de- N.C. DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY For the third time in layed maintenance of aging schools, Health conditions among North Carolina's state correctional centers, including four years, no one was senior centers, hospitals and other Central Prison in Raleigh, above, is drawing renewed scrutiny because of the sentenced to death by buildings, according to the first bian- a state jury in 2020, a nual report released this month by the COVID-19 pandemic. trend that gives cap- Andrea Harris Social, Economic, Envi- ital punishment foes Engel ronmental and Health Equity Task hope that lawmakers Force Gov. Roy Cooper put in place in Chronic prison problems and judges will work to eliminate June. systemic racism in law enforce- Regan The report finds that, because of ment and the courts. aging and poorly functioning HVAC predate, outlast pandemic North Carolina has not carried systems, students attending these schools “are ex- In June, Lisa Phelps was sen- out an execution in 14 years while posed to a host of chemical and biological contami- By Jordan Wilkie tenced on a probation violation to a growing number of the state’s nants that adversely affect their health and overall CAROLINA PUBLIC PRESS the North Carolina Correctional In- 138 death row prisoners are bring- well-being and their ability to learn. Reopening these The women’s prison in Raleigh stitution for Women in Raleigh. She ing forward claims of racism in schools amid the pandemic is likely to exacerbate does not have air conditioning. got there in June and left in De- their trials and sentences under the problem, as buildings with poor ventilation, al- It is not an anomaly among North cember. the Racial Justice Act. ready a crucible for building related diseases, can Carolina’s 55 prisons, nor is the “I knew I was only going to be “This year, our state’s highest potentially become hotbeds for the spread of the co- Greenwood C hall at Swannanoa there about six months, but I just, I court said very clearly that it’s time ronavirus.” Correctional Center for Women, didn’t see the light at the end of the to stop ignoring racism in the The sick building problem is just one issue the task where the heat was malfunctioning tunnel because of the horrid con- death penalty,” said Gretchen force recommends addressing. for portions of four days in De- ditions, I mean it was really hot in Engel, executive director of the Task force members broke up into subcommittees cember while 18 women were quar- there,” Phelps said. Durham-based Center for Death focused on five areas — access to healthcare, eco- antined after being exposed to a Please see SICK| 2A staff member with COVID-19. Please see CHRONIC |3A Please see JURY’S | 2A INSIDE Please Digital edition: STAY IN TOUCH Sports 5A Snapchat: thecharpost www.thecharlottepostnewspaper.com Recycle Life 1B Twitter: @thecharpost A&E 5B To subscribe: (704) 376-0496 or online Facebook: The Charlotte Post Classified 4B http://tcppc.com/Subscribe Instagram: @thecharlottepost #PaperThursday 2A NEWS | The Charlotte Post Thursday, December 31, 2020 GIBBIE HARRIS « NEWSMAKER OF THE YEAR Jury’s out on death penalty Continued from page 1A modern death penalty is pervasive in death penalty Advocate for public Penalty Litigation. “It’s rooted in racism,” Engel cases. time to confront the clear said. “North Carolina’s The court ruled in June and undeniable evidence death penalty was used that inmates who filed that race still determines first as a tool for enforcing claims under the Racial health before, beyond who is sentenced to slavery and then to police Justice Act are entitled to death.” segregation. It’s no wonder hearings where they can On Dec. 14, the Task that today we have a death present evidence that pros- Force for Racial Equity in penalty riddled with in- ecutors excluded Black ju- COVID-19 pandemic Criminal Justice released a equity. From the dispro- rors and allowed racial bias study linking capital pun- portionate numbers of tainted their trials. In two Continued from page 1A further and started requiring these ishment’s “relationship to people of color on death separate decisions, the pandemic as far as I'm concerned be- folks to do as much of electronically white supremacy” and row to the death sentenc- court ruled that four peti- cause of the impact that it's had on as they could, but also to start includ- lynching. The panel rec- ing of innocent Black men, tioners who proved dis- not just from a health perspective but ing the race and ethnicity data. Unfor- ommended a Truth and from the exclusion of Afri- crimination under the RJA also an economic perspective, a social tunately, the state has required it but Reconciliation Commis- can American jurors to the be removed from death perspective, and behavioral health not necessarily enforced it. We still sion that would study ra- favoring of white victims. row and resentenced to life perspective. And in many cases a spir- see that close to 25% to 30% of our test cial disparities in death If we want to move forward without parole. One deci- itual perspective for people.

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