The 44 Percent: COVID vaccines to Caribbean, infrastructure bill & Malice at the Palace

It’s officially time to mask up like we did at the height of 2020.

COVID is back with a vengeance. Florida has set record after record for hospitalizations in the past week and a half. And if it’s really getting that bad, we all know who will disproportionately suffer: Black and brown communities. As the common saying goes, when America catches a cold, Black people catch pneumonia.

If by some chance you’re not vaccinated, fix that now. Get the shot. I got it and have yet to grow a tail, turn into a robot or [insert conspiracy theory here]. The vaccine didn’t come “too quickly” — it’s the product of decades of development in the medical industry.

Now, if you are vaccinated, you may be thinking, “The CDC said I don’t have to wear a mask if I’m vaccinated.” Well, the CDC did just update its guidelines to encourage vaccinated people to wear masks indoors if they’re in an area with “substantial or high transmission.” And this is Florida, a state that accounted for nearly one-fifth of the country’s new COVID cases on Tuesday and is painted bright red on the CDC’s COVID heat map.

You don’t know where the maskless person behind you has been. Please, for the love of all things holy, don’t fold when we’re so close to the finish line. I want to be maskless, reckless and shining in COVID-free success by mid-2022.

Signed,

Somebody Who Misses Outside

INSIDE THE 305

State drops case after video casts doubt on another bystander arrest at Miami Beach hotel:

After video footage of Miami Beach police pummeling two Black men led to charges against five officers earlier this month, state prosecutors dropped the case against a second bystander who was arrested while filming the incident. The Miami Herald’s David Ovalle has the story:

Less than an hour after his friend Khalid Vaughn was arrested while filming officers kick and punch a suspect, Sharif Cobb also found himself filming officers — this time as they waited outside the lobby to transport his handcuffed pal to jail. Like his friend, Cobb soon found himself in handcuffs. He was charged with resisting arrest, his lip bloodied during the encounter.

In an arrest report that also echoed Vaughn’s, police claimed that Cobb refused “several warnings to leave the immediate area.” But prosecutors, in reviewing police body-worn camera footage, saw that Cobb was actually following orders — walking backward away from the cops. “It is clear that Mr. Cobb was complying with the officers’ orders to retreat and step back,” according to a prosecution memo on the case.

The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office on Monday said it has now dropped the case against Cobb, whose arrest that night at the Royal Palm has received little publicity, but also raises questions about the conduct of Miami Beach police officers. Lying on a sworn police report can be considered a crime of “official misconduct,” but whether prosecutors will make such a case remains to be seen. No officers have been charged criminally in connection to Cobb’s arrest.

Related Stories:

1. Five Miami Beach cops charged after pummeling two men in hotel lobby. Video released

2. Activists seek stiffer charges for Miami Beach officers accused of beating Black men

3. Police brutality? “This is not who we are,” says Miami Beach police chief. Is he right? | Opinion

OUTSIDE THE 305

U.S. sends nearly 1 million COVID vaccine doses to Caribbean nations:

Roughly 18% of the Caribbean population is vaccinated as of last week. That number will hopefully increase with the Biden administration’s shipment of more than 830,000 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to six Caribbean nations. The breakdown, according to the Miami Herald’s Jacqueline Charles, is as follows:

In announcing the vaccine shipments Wednesday, the Biden administration said Trinidad will receive 305,370 doses while Barbados will receive 70,200 doses. Donations will also go to the Bahamas, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The timing couldn’t better:

After keeping the virus at bay last year, Caribbean nations have been struggling to control the spread. They have faced a shortage of vaccines, and now the delta variant in the region poses a new threat.

In some countries, governments have turned to India and China for vaccine allocations, leading some to see vaccine diplomacy as an emerging problem in the region. The Biden administration has said that its donations have nothing to do with competition but ”to save lives and to lead the world in bringing an end to the pandemic.”

How will the infrastructure bill affect Black and brown communities?:

The Senate passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill Tuesday that includes $550 billion in new spending to improve everything from roadways, to internet access, to public transportation. Here are a few areas that will specifically affect Black and brown communities, according to CNN’s Katie Lobosco and Tami Luhby.

Roads and bridges:

It contains $1 billion to reconnect communities, disproportionately Black neighborhoods, that were divided by highways and other infrastructure, according to the White House. It will fund planning, design, demolition and reconstruction of street grids, parks or other infrastructure.

Transportation:

The funds would repair and upgrade existing infrastructure, make stations accessible to all users, bring transit service to new communities and modernize rail and bus fleets, including replacing thousands of vehicles with zero-emission models, according to the White House.

Broadband access:

It also aims to help lower the price households pay for internet service by requiring federal funding recipients to offer a low-cost affordable plan, by creating price transparency and by boosting competition in areas where existing providers aren’t providing adequate service. It would also create a permanent federal program to help more low-income households access the internet, according to the White House fact sheet.

HIGH CULTURE

Do yourself a favor and watch “Untold: Malice at the Palace”:

This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 3:15 PM.

C. Isaiah Smalls II

Miami Herald

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C. Isaiah Smalls II is a sports and culture writer who covers the Miami Dolphins. In his previous capacity at the Miami Herald, he was the race and culture reporter who created The 44 Percent, a newsletter dedicated to the Black men who voted to incorporate the city of Miami. A graduate of both Morehouse College and Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, Smalls previously worked for ESPN’s Andscape.