FALL 2020 INSIDE TALK PENNSYLVANIA AFRICAN AMERICAN MAYORS LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF COVID THE GOALS OF CARE—IS THERE A (BLACK) DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE? NAVIGATING TOWARDS OUR FUTURE NAVIGATING TOWARDS OUR FUTUREpalottery.com Players must be 18 or older. Please play responsibly. Problem Gambling Helpline: 1-800-GAMBLER On Sale 10/27/20AHN.org/Cancer From you have cancer to you had cancer. Roxann had an aggressive form of breast cancer. But Roxann had the AHN Cancer Institute. And with her team of oncology experts and an innovative treatment plan, Roxann’s cancer went from untreatable to beatable. Outsmarting cancer on all fronts is #LivingProof. If you have cancer, you have us.TMAG 2018 Pennsylvania Voter Project Check Donation Level: n $5 n $10 n $20 n $50 n $100 n $300 n $500 n Other $______________ n Yes, I will Contribute to Talk Minority Action Group Voter Project Print Name ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ City ______________________________________________________ State ___________ Zip Code _____________________ Email _____________________________________________ Telephone ____________________________________________ Make checks payable to The Pittsburgh Contingency/TMAG Mail checks to PO Box 143 ~ Monroeville, PA 15146-0143 Our Partner The Pittsburgh Contingency (TPC) is a 501(c)3 non-profit and your Contribution is tax deductible. P 412.823.4007 ~ E contact@talkminorityactiongroup.org ~ www.talkminorityactiongroup.org GUIDE TO CITIZENSHIP & RESPONSIBILITY EDUCATING & EMPOWERING DISCUSSION GUIDE TMAG VOTER PROJECT Voter Registration Set Up Registration Booths At Community Block/Street Fairs, Churches, Schools Targeting Pennsylvania’s African American/Latino Populations INCLUDING Classes and events using our Citizens’ guide booklet reviewing Voters’ rights, responsibilities of elected officials Voter Turnout Walk to the polls Ride to the polls Door to door on election Voter Education Please help with your DONATION 2020WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 3 INSIDE TALK PUBLISHER’S NOTES Greetings, COVID-19 has most of us choosing between our lives or our income. What good is income without good health? Most people would select good health for themselves and their families. Many people are not aware of the long-term effects COVID-19 can have on some people. Some effects include trouble with lung, heart, and limb functions. The effect of losing your paycheck is incredibly traumatic and we struggle to maintain our homes, our food security, our overall lifestyles, however, keep it in perspective, as shocking and devastating as this is, it is temporary. Losing your life or your mother, father, any family member is forever. This issue of Talk Magazine want to encourage you to Live and Love yourself and your families by wearing face masks outside your homes, keep minimum of 6 feet or more social distance when out in public, wash your hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds, stay at home if you don't have to go out and for the upcoming holidays, Love your families at a distance. Our story on the Hamilton Health Center in Harrisburg, PA lead by CEO, Jeannine Peterson demonstrates that help is available for people and neighborhoods with lower resources. Talk Magazine and TMAG will be working to increase the African American and Latinx Mayors in Pennsylvania in 2021 and we need your help by Voting and making a financial contribution to support our work. Please review the population statistics in this issue to see where we want to focus our work in increasing votes and finding interested candidates will help grow our Mayors and other elected officials in Pennsylvania. This is a Call to Action…Let's Go To Work in 2021! Thank you. Please stay safe. The LJS Group / Talk Magazine / TMAG Luther J. Sewell, Jr. / Publisher Roxanne N. Sewell / President & Editor theLULAdesigns / Graphic Design & Layout Tené Croom / Contributing Writer Fiordaliza White / Contributing Writer PO Box 143 Monroeville, PA 15146-0143 (P) 412.823.4007 info@talkmagazineonline.com www.talkmagazineonline.com 04 College News 06 Talk Across PA 08 Business News 10 Latino News 12 Pennsylvania African American Mayors 18 Hamilton Health Center Long-Term Effects of COVID pg 20 Medical Marijuana Sales Soar pg 24 Fall 2020 The Goals of Care pg264 | TALK MAGAZINE • FALL 2020 COLLEGE NEWS Penn State Berks by Lisa Baldi The Penn State Berks LaunchBox and the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP) have teamed up to support entrepreneurs in Berks County. Both organiza- tions have a core mission of supporting technol- ogy-based startups, and the services that they provide are a natural complement to each other. Penn State Berks LaunchBox helps entrepre- neurs develop their ideas, refine their business plans, and define their target markets. Then they are referred to BFTP for seed funding and additional business and technical input, links to a Solutions Network of proven expertise, and/ or introductions to potential follow-on funders. Likewise, when BFTP identifies Greater Reading startups that need help developing their product and target market, the Berks LaunchBox provides assistance. “We are grateful to have Connie Faylor, regional manager of the Ben Franklin Technology Partners, on our Berks LaunchBox board, cementing a close connection between our organizations and allowing for valuable cross-support of Berks County startups,” stated Erica Kunkel, interim director of continu- ing education at Penn State Berks. The most recent startup to benefit from the partnership is Enigma Networkz, LLC, a cyber- security software company that began working with the Berks LaunchBox in 2019, becoming a co-working company in 2020. The company received an investment of $30,500 from BFTP to support sales, marketing, positioning for invest- ment, and product development. The company has developed a proprietary Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product, Enigma Glass, a turnkey, cloud- based cybersecurity data analytics platform that ingests and analyzes source data from disparate systems and quickly transforms it into actionable intelligence. The application is currently being beta tested in a variety of settings, including two Penn State Berks cybersecurity analytics and operations classes. BFTP has also collaborated to support several projects for the Penn State Berks Learning Facto- ry, an initiative that brings real-world engineer- ing challenges into the classroom, connecting students to BFTP client companies. Companies present their design challenges and engineer- ing students work to develop fresh, innovative solutions, with oversight from their professors. Ben Franklin client, Solarflux Energy Technolo- gies, Inc., is currently participating in one such Learning Factory project. “Ben Franklin brings more than 35 years of client support and business incubation experience to our partnership with the Penn State Berks Launch- Box,” stated Connie Faylor, regional manager, Greater Reading/Berks and Schuylkill, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania. “Penn State provides the deep faculty, student and equipment resources. All of this benefits early-stage technology-based firms in Greater Read- ing.” Penn State Berks faculty and staff members have been strong supporters and partners of the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeast- ern Pennsylvania. Members of the campus have served on Ben Franklin’s Berks/Schuylkill advi- sory board for many years. Faylor is a member of the Berks LaunchBox advisory board and the Penn State Berks entrepreneurial advisory board. In March 2019, Penn State Berks Chancellor R. Keith Hillkirk accepted, on behalf of Penn State Berks, the Frederick J. Beste III Partnership Award from BFTP. The award is presented to an organization whose strong vision, dedication and commitment have helped the Ben Franklin Technology Partners accomplish its goals. This support demonstrates the college’s sincere desire to see the region thrive. LINCOLN President Allen To Be Honored Among Philadelphia’s Most Influential African American Leaders Lincoln University’s reputation for excellence in teaching and scholarship continues to earn the University national accolades. U.S. News & World Report has named Lincoln University a top 20 Historically Black College & University for the second consecutive year. “The 2021 rankings reaffirm that our focus on student success through reinvestment in our roots as a liberal arts institution is working,” said Dr. Brenda A. Allen, president. The announcement from U.S. News and World Report marks the fifth consecutive year that the publication has ranked Lincoln among the top 30 institutions. For the second consecutive year, Lincoln ranked among the top public schools, best re- gional universities in the north, and top-perform- ing schools on social mobility. This is only the second year that the U.S. News & World Report has published a social mobility list. The U.S. News HBCU ranking measures the quality of undergraduate education at historically black colleges and universities. These HBCUs were compared only with one another for this ranking. To be on the list, a school must be currently listed as part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities registry. To qualify for U.S. News ranking, an HBCU also must be an undergraduate baccalaure- ate-granting institution that enrolls primarily first-year, first-time students and must be a school that is part of the 2019 Best Colleges rankings. Founded in 1854, Lincoln University, the nation’s first degree-granting Historically Black College and University (HBCU), educates and empowers students to lead their communities and change the world. FREE COLLEGE by Jamal Rich When people involved in the fight to cancel student debt demand free college education, they are not calling for a new, radical idea. Countless numbers of lawmakers, for example, got their educations at free colleges that they now say are out of reach to the nation’s students. One of the best examples was the City University of New York whose many four year colleges and community colleges were tuition free until the late 1960’s. They even had an open admissions policy resulting in not just the admission of minority students but the opening of their doors to countless white working-class students. And, of course, countries in Europe and else- where offer free college education to this day, enabling working-class students to gain an edu- cation that allows them entrance into professions out of reach to U.S. students today. Answers to how this all ended and how millions in America carry the burden now of crushing student debt were forthcoming recently here at a panel discussion sponsored by The Claudia Jones School for Political Education. The Debt Collective is a membership orga- nization working to transform our individual financial struggles into a source of collective power. Debt Collective offers services to empow- er people and dispute debts and is conducting direct actions and campaigns of non-cooperation with the finance industry. They work toward broad debt cancellation while fighting for policies to end mass indebtedness including free public higher education, universal healthcare, worker-owned business, fair wages for everyone, decarceration and reparations for racial justice. The panelists who represented the Debt Collec- tive were Dr. Hannah Appel, a co-founder and WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 5 COLLEGE NEWS Jacques Laroche, the technical projects manager. The program began with a presentation on the underlying reasons for tuition costs and student debt. College and public universities were tuition free up until the mid-1960s. White students were favored until an explosion of protests across the country, led by groups that included the Brown Berets and the Black Panther Party, forced the introduction of things like Black and Chicanx studies and departments. In California, Ronald Reagan (who would later become president of the United States) was elected governor of California in 1966 and proposed that the University of California system should charge tuition to attend college. In his words, this was to “get rid of undesirables […] those who are there to carry signs and not to study might think twice to carry picket signs.” Reagan succeeds and by the 1990s, every “formerly pub- lic” school began being paid for by tuition costs, which in turn turned into student debt. This was a slap in the face to those who were protesting white supremacy, capitalism, and imperialism because it put these folks in debt. As a result, the student debt crisis ensued. Student debt quadrupled between 2004 and 2019 to now a whopping $1.6 trillion dollars! The average student debt from people graduating in 2018 was $30,000 with an onset of one million new defaults on student loans each year. To sum it up, from 1964 to 2019 tuition costs soared by 3,819%. “This mass indebtedness has profoundly deepened the pre-existing racial and gendered inequalities in the United States,” says Appel. This is a result of the systemic disparities from predatory inclusion and racial capitalism. Pred- atory inclusion is where the financial actors offer needed services to Black and brown households but on exploitative terms that limit or eliminate their long-term benefit. Student debt takes effect along racial and gendered lines with a borrowing comparison of 63% to 81% from white to Black graduates. Four years after graduating, Black gradu- ates have average loan balances more than twice of their white counterparts. More than half of Black households under 40 have student debt and more than half of Black borrowers and 44% of Latinx borrowers are either in default or delinquent on their loans. Further, there is discrimination in the labor market due to gender and racial wage gaps and differential access to intergenerational wealth. Zillah Wesley II, one of the co-chairs of the D.C. Poor Peoples Campaign, A National Call for Moral Revival, speaking on the organization’s history and strategy around organizing people to fight debt. The campaign goals are to shift the narrative, build power and impact elections and policies. Wesley went on to repeat what was said earlier by saying that education is underfund- ed and unequal. Wesley ended by noting that corporations are making super-profits off this crisis and the ongoing pandemic and linked the looming housing issue with the debt crisis. MERCYHURST by Starr Bodi Hundreds of students from Mercyhurst University voiced their concerns about police brutality despite the concerns over the coronavi- rus. This comes as recent protests and mass gatherings continue to spark attention across the country. We spoke to protesters about the importance of attending the march. Organizers of tonight’s Black Lives Matter protest at Mercyhurst told us that this is a way for students to express what they’ve been feeling and how they can come together as a community to help put an end to police brutality. Despite the concerns over COVID-19, hundreds of students gathered with their masks on to raise awareness about recent cases involving police brutality. Students at the university socially distanced themselves while carrying signs around campus and peacefully chanting. During the march, students and organizers of the black students for unity stopped throughout campus and gave speeches while reading poems and voicing their concerns for change. Janice Withers, President of Black Students for Unity said that it is im- portant for college students to use their voices especially as they prepare for their pro- fessional careers ahead. “When we come to adulthood, we come to college. We all form our opinions and own ideas. A lot of people come from areas where they don’t believe in black lives matter or anything like that. We want to start the next gen- eration of ideas,” said Janice Withers, President of Black Students for Unity. The march ended with the reading of every victim’s name affected by police brutality. This reading was then followed by a prayer. TRANSFERRING TO LA ROCHE WAS THE BEST THING I COULD HAVE DONE FOR MY FUTURE. THANKS TO THE DEDICATED FACULTY AND STAFF, I WAS ABLE TO EXCEL IN THE CLASSROOM WHILE PREPARING TO BE AN EFFECTIVE PROFESSIONAL. - KEVIN JOHNSON- KEVIN JOHNSON ’17 Finance and Management IN-PERSON PREVIEW WEEK NOVEMBER 9-12TALK ACROSS PA 6 | TALK MAGAZINE • FALL 2020 Pittsburgh La Roche University ranks among the nation’s best colleges in the Northeast according to the Princeton Review. The Princeton Review, a nationally renowned education services company, lists La Roche among its Best in the Northeast recommended schools in its 2021 Best Colleges: Region by Region website feature. For 17 consecutive years, The Princeton Review has ranked La Roche as one of the region’s best colleges for students to earn undergraduate degrees. The feature is accessible at princetonreview. com/bestNEcolleges. La Roche is one of 224 best colleges listed alphabetically. Provost and Senior Vice President for Aca- demic Affairs Howard J. Ishiyama, Ph.D., said, “La Roche University is committed to creating an academically challenging environment that produces a community of scholars and lifelong learners. Being consistently ranked as a Best Northeastern College by The Princeton Review since 2005 affirms we are successfully living out our mission.” The Princeton Review selects best regional schools for academic excellence. Editors made their selections based on data the company collected from its survey of administrators at several hundred colleges in each region, as well as its staff visits to schools over the years, and the perspectives of college counselors and advisers whose opinions the company solicits. “We chose La Roche University and the other out- standing institutions on this list primarily for their academics,” Robert Franek, editor-in-chief of The Princeton Review, said. “We also consider what students enrolled at the schools reported to us on our student survey about their campus experiences.” The Princeton Review survey asks students to rate their colleges on dozens of issues and to answer questions about themselves, their fellow students and campus life. Comments from sur- veyed students are quoted in the school profiles on The Princeton Review website. The 224 colleges that The Princeton Review chose for its Best in the Northeast 2021 list are located in 11 states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hamp- shire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont – and the District of Columbia. Collectively the 655 colleges on The Princeton Review’s regional best lists for 2021 constitute about 23 percent of the nation’s four- year colleges. Salvation Army in Allentown by Donna Fisher The Salvation Army in Allentown unveiled a newly renovated gymnasium as part of its mission to help underserved youth and other organizations in the city. Citadel Gymnasium, 144 N. Eighth St., received funding for the facelift with the help of a $75,000 state grant secured by state Sen. Patrick Browne, R-Lehigh. Renovations also got underway in January before slowing down in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Browne along with Lt. Col. Larry Ashcraft, divisional commander of the Salvation Army of Eastern Pennsylvania & Delaware; Majors Ismael and Santa Correa, Salvation Army officers; members of the Salvation Army of Allentown Citadel; and children currently enrolled in the Salvation Army’s day youth program participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the gym. For the past century, the gym and commu- nity center have served the local community, offering a safe haven for teens and youth, keeping them out of trouble and off the streets. Deirdre Govan, resource development manager for the Allentown Salvation Army, said the gym began showing its age in recent years with buckling floors and deteriorating backboards and nets. The walls, she said, weren’t painted in years. “So many children, teens and young adults depend on this facility to give them a safe place to gather and interact with others," Govan said. "We just didn’t have funding (through the years) for the facelift that this facility needed.” Improvements included demolition of the old flooring and construction of new maplewood floors, two updated backboards installed and a fresh coat of paint. The next steps will be adding new light fixtures, as well as refurbishing bathrooms and showers, said Ismael Correa, commanding officer of the Allentown facility. The gym currently is closed due to the corona- virus pandemic. Children involved in the Day Youth program, however, are utilizing the space for schoolwork, sports and other activities during the day. In December, members of the charita- ble organization plan to use the gym for storing thousands of toys to be packages and distributed to 3,700 children and families in the Salvation Army’s Christmas Assistance program. Bloomsburg Teacher Helps Parents with 'Math Nights' by Nikki Krize One cyberschool teacher from Columbia County is simplifying things for parents by showing them better ways to help their children. Nicole Manley of Bloomsburg is a math teacher at the Insight PA Cyber Charter School, teaching third through fifth grade. While teach- ers and students at this school were already well versed in virtual learning before the COVID-19 pandemic, Manley says there was a huge increase in enrollment this year. "Last year, I think we ended the school year with maybe 700 kids in the elementary school. Now I think we're up to 1,300, just in the elementary school," said Manley. Manley found that along with the increase in enrollment came more families who were not used to virtual learning. As students struggled with math, some parents did not feel equipped to help them. As a solution, Manley started "math nights," a workshop for students and parents. "Let me help you figure out how to teach your kids because a lot of learning coaches, they're not teachers. Also, some of them don't feel like they're strong in math and say, 'I know she needs help, but I don't know how to help her.'" Manley says, this hits close to home because she struggled with math as a child. "I was always lost. I fell behind, and I stayed behind. And then I found my niche. My heart was really in helping students who are in the same position I was." When it comes to families who are new at virtual learning, Manley suggests parents take it one step at a time. "Do a little bit of work and take a break. Do a Major IsmaelTALK ACROSS PA WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 7 little bit more work and take a break. When you are learning coach and parent, that's two full-time jobs." Manley holds her "math nights" sessions for the charter school parents every other week. Lancaster County Scheduled to Vote on Distribution of Remaining CARES Act money by Andrew Forgotch Lancaster County Commissioners are sched- uled to vote on a plan to allocate, or reallocate, nearly $36-million in federal CARES Act coronavirus relief funds. The plan to distribute the money prioritizes economic relief spending, much like it did earlier this year when com- missioners allocated close to $78-million of the CARES Act money. According to Lancaster County Commissioner, Ray D’Agostino, some of the money from the initial allocation will not be used, which is why there is $36-million left to spend. D’Agostino leads the county’s federal CARES Act spending committee and has overseen the proposal of how the money will be spent. D’Agostino told ABC 27 News that among other things, the proposal would provide an additional $15 million for economic recov- ery grant, money for which both for-profit businesses and nonprofits would be eligible. “The focus of our use of the CARES Act funds has been about protecting lives and livelihoods,” DAgostino said. In addition to economic recovery the plans call for $3-million to go to long term care facilities. There’s also additional funding for county services, municipali- ties, and school districts. “School districts particularly have extra expenses because of COVID and dealing with keeping people safe,” D’Agos- tino said. “If we want to keep schools open, like they should be, the county is looking to helping them do that.” The CARES Act law requires all the funds to be spent by Dec. 30. All three commissioners are expected to vote on the plan next Wednesday. Nonprofit with Food Banks in 6 States and 3 Countries Opens First Facility in PA by Daniel Urie A nonprofit organization with food banks in six states and three countries will open a food bank in the Middletown area. Midwest Food Bank, which is based in Illinois has subleased warehouse space at 2700 Com- merce Drive in Lower Swatara Township. The or- ganization hopes the food bank in Lower Swatara Township will be operational by November 16. “The need for an additional food supply has been underscored by the COVID 19 pandemic,” said Lori Renne, executive director for Midwest Food Bank Pennsylvania. “Our location will serve as a resource for Pennsylvania non-profit agencies supporting those suffering from food insecurity.” Midwest Food Bank gathers food donations and distributes them to nonprofit organizations with feeding programs including food pantries, shelters, day care centers, agencies for victims of domestic violence, senior adult centers, soup kitchens, substance abuse and reha- bilitation programs, medical day care facilities, churches and agencies helping sup- port those in need. Food is secured from Midwest Food Bank’s network across the United States as well as local sourc- es. The food bank will serve all of Pennsylvania as well as surrounding states as needed. Midwest Food Bank Pennsylvania said it is geo- graphically well-positioned to provide disaster relief when needed and will be able to get food to Pennsyl- vania and surrounding states within 24 hours of receiving the call for help. The facility has a total of 32,000 square feet with 28,800 square feet for ware- house space. Midwest Food Bank will hold community food drives in the future. Midwest Food Bank is a Christian organization with 11 food banks in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Texas, Kenya and Haiti. & ffice of workforce planningbusiness & supplier diversity Myneca Y. Ojo, Director • 717.831.7333 • mojo@paturnpike.com FOR JOB OPPORTUNITIES & INTERNSHIPS: www.paturnpike.com/yourTurnpike/employment.aspx FOR BUSINESS & CONTRACTING OPPORTUNITIES: www.paturnpike.com/business/business_supplier_diversity.aspx Driving Diversity & Inclusion through Commitment & Opportunity ceo intern fellows program for diverse groupscommunity participation & cultural awarenessNext >