Caribbean-American Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke.
Photo by Nelson A. King; File
Caribbean Life, May 15-21, 2020 3
By Tangerine Clarke
Labor Day Carnival came to Brookdale
Hospital Medical Center on Rockaway
Parkway in a viral video, that
showed healthcare workers covered in
PPE, dancing to Soca music from a
stereo system truck outside the hospital,
on whose façade, read, Thank You
Brooklyn Health’s Heroes.
It was evident that nationals felt
the love, and deep connection to their
homeland, as many reveled as if they
were on Eastern Parkway, that inevitably
will not be crowded with costumeclad
masqueraders, due to the coronavirus
pandemic.
One Facebook fan, said, “Glad to see
an appreciation that depicts our roots,
Awesome,” while others expressed
their love for the gesture from the
deejay truck, emblazoned with the
words: “Thank You.”
Brookdale Hospital has a very high
percentage workforce of Caribbean
nationals, hence the sidewalk revelry
that indicated a celebration for a job
well done, during the COVID-19 pandemic
that continues to claim the lives
of millions across the world.
Brookdale Clinical Services, home
to some of the finest physicians and
healthcare practitioners in New York
City, and delivers high-quality stateof
the-art care, and care providers in
the neighborhood, saw overwhelming
cases Coronavirus, according to Dr.
Arabia Mollette, an African-American
Bronx native.
During an interview with CNN, Dr.
Mollette described the situation at the
hospital as a medical warzone, where
everyday, she saw pain, suffering, and
healthcare disparities. “We are fighting
for our lives, and the lives of the
patients too,” said the emergency room
doctor.
“We are trying to keep our heads
above water to not drown,” said Dr.
Mollette, as she took the TV reporter
around the hospital to show the devastation,
as thousands of lives were
being lost as the coronavirus peaked in
America.
By Nelson A. King
Brooklyn Democratic Congresswoman
Yvette D. Clarke has led a
letter to leadership in the US House
of Representatives urging payroll
assistance for the digital news workforce
during the ongoing coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic.
Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican
immigrants who represents the 9th
Congressional District in Brooklyn,
said on Tuesday that only the federal
government can ensure digital
journalists continue covering their
beats, adding that the websites that
are home to this reporting still exist
“once society reopens after the coronavirus
pandemic sunsets.”
“While Americans are staying
home for the betterment of society
during this pandemic glued to
their devices, now more than ever,
journalists who are reporting digitally
are critical in delivering essential
information about COVID-19 and
other news,” said Clarke, Vice Chair
of the Energy and Commerce Committee
and is a member of the Homeland
Security Committee.
“I led a letter to House Leadership
so the important work of the digital
press can continue to deliver highquality
journalism to Americans
during the coronavirus pandemic,”
she added.
The letter states that initial reporting
estimates a 51 percent decline
in spending on advertisements over
March and April.
“This collapse is hitting digitalnative
outlets hardest, since most do
not charge subscription fees and thus
are disproportionately dependent on
advertising revenue,” the letter says.
“For the professionals who work in
digital newsrooms, federal financial
support – whether by grant, loan
or other means – is all that stands
between continuing to produce critical
journalism and unemployment.”
Clarke, whose district includes Central
and South Brooklyn, said while
digital-native outlets employ over
16,000 news professionals across the
country, most of these professionals
have not benefited from the payroll
support programs passed into law by
prior stimulus packages.
The congresswoman’s letter highlights
this fact, urging House Leadership
to ensure the digital news workforce
is protected.
Clarke noted that groups, like the
Writers Guild of America, East, DPE,
AFL-CIO and others who want to see
digital journalism flourish amid the
current coronavirus pandemic have
voiced their support of her letter.
“Millions of Americans rely on digital
news to learn about issues that
matter to their lives, to their communities,”
said Lowell Peterson, Executive
Director of the Writers Guild of
America, East. “The people who do
the work – who investigate, write, edit,
produce, and distribute reliable news –
face layoffs and furloughs and pay cuts
because of the pandemic.
“Now, more than ever, it is imperative
that Congress help news organizations
– including digital media – keep
these hard-working people on the payroll,”
he added. “Thousands of jobs
depend on it; democracy depends on
it.”
Clarke was joined by 25 other Members
of Congress on this letter, including:
Anthony G. Brown (MD-04), G.
K. Butterfield (NC-01), Debbie Dingell
(MI-12), Adriano Espaillat (NY-
13), Ruben Gallego (AZ-15), Jesus G.
“Chuy” Garcia (IL-04), Vicente Gonzalez
(TX-15), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson
Jr. (GA-04), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Brenda
Lawrence (MI-14), Sheila Jackson
Lee (TX-18), Barbara Lee (CA-13), Andy
Levin (MI-9), and Stephen F. Lynch
(MA-8),.
Other were:Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-
14), Grace Meng (NY-06), Joe Neguse
(CO-02), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DCAL),
Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Jamie
Raskin (MD-08), Lucille Roybal-Allard
(CA-40), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Adam
B. Schiff (CA-28), Haley M. Stevens
(MI-11) and Rashida Tlaib (MI-13).
Dr. Arabia Mollette.
Clarke leads letter urging
support for digital journalism
Brookdale
thanks ‘health
heroes’