Pfafftown Corona Chronicles: Virtual March on Washington DC

An online gathering and Moral March on Washington DC is scheduled to broadcast Saturday June 20th at 10am and 6pm EST, and again Sunday June 21st at 6pm EST, at June2020.org. The program is approximately 2.5 hours.

The movement aims to unite 140 million poor and low-income people across the country, and to bring attention to a national call for moral revival led by Rev William Barber.

10 Reasons to Support Black Lives Matter

Multiple musicians have shown support for racial justice and equality recently:

Beyoncé released surprise new song, Black Parade, on Juneteenth.
John Legend and Alicia Keys premiered new music in the latest Verzuz music battle.
Mickey Guyton released Black Like Me, an intimate new piano ballad chronicling her journey navigating American life, and the country music industry, as a black woman.
Multiple country music stars have publicly expressed support for racial justice and equality.
Public Enemy also released new song: State of the Union (STFU).

Daily pandemic update:

WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the 150,000 new cases recorded on June 18 is the highest number reported in a single day, indicating the global pandemic is accelerating. Aljazeera.com timeline

20 June 2020	Cases		Deaths		Recovered
12:41 GMT*	Yesterday	Today	Yesterday	Today	Yesterday	Today
World	8,648,975	8,795,032	458,104	463,260	4,573,965	4,653,821
US	2,277,593	2,298,108	120,949	121,424	932,188	956,077
NY	408,426	409,953	31,092	31,159	86,865	87,002
CT	45,510	45,557	4,226	4,238	9,039	9,039
NC	49,840	49,840	1,235	1,250	29,219	29,219

A moment of silence for those we’ve lost to coronavirus, including the first 100 and the first 100,000 in the US.

As of today 11% of closed cases in the US resulted in death; 89% recovered.

Globally 9% of closed cases resulted in death worldwide; 91% recovered.

Currently 1% of all active cases are considered serious or critical, down from 2% reported previously.

*Documenting time of day because real time data updates continuously.
Tracking specific states: NY is US epicenter. Son Reid lives in CT. I live in NC.
Worldometers Coronainusa Starsexpress2020 https://ncov2019.live/

In the news:

10 states saw a sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 cases this week: AL, AZ, CA, FL, NV, NC, OK, OR, SC, and TX. Florida and Arizona are particularly worrying.
AMC Theaters announced all guests must wear masks.
Apple is closing 11 retail stores in 4 states due to coronavirus spikes in AZ, FL, NC and SC.
CDC data indicated approximately 24,000 Americans died of the flu while between 39 million and 56 million people were sickened with the flu during the most recent flu season. The 2019-2020 flu season which ran October – April was worse than the previous year, especially for children. Medical researchers determined COVID killed 20 times more Americans per week than the common flu.
Chick-fil-A CEO urged white people to take action against racism and said he does not blame looters after multiple locations were damaged last week.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg shared a 75 minute podcast, Humanity has not yet failed, during which she implored world leaders to do more to support climate justice.
CNN's Jim Acosta to White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany: Doesn't sharing fake videos make you fake news?
COVID Exit Strategy tracks states as they make progress toward a safe new normal.
Cruise line industry voluntarily suspended cruises departing from US ports until at least September 15.
Ford Bronco redesign launch moved to July 13 to avoid coinciding with OJ Simpson’s birthday.
Geoffrey Berman, US Attorney for the Southern District of NY who investigated Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen and is now investigating Trump’s current personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, is refusing to step down after Attorney General William Barr announced Friday night Berman would be replaced. Berman asserted, "I learned in a press release from the Attorney General tonight that I was 'stepping down' as United States Attorney... I have not resigned, and have no intention of resigning, my position ... I will step down when a presidentially appointed nominee is confirmed by the Senate. Until then, our investigations will move forward without delay or interruption." Trump said he will nominate Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Jay Clayton to replace Berman. Barr wants to place NJ attorney Craig Carpenito in the position on an interim basis until Clayton can be confirmed by the senate.
Intel report warned that Boogaloo far-right extremists may target Washington DC.
KY demonstrators gathered outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s home to protest an array of issues while commemorating Juneteenth.
North Face joined Facebook ad boycott objecting to Mark Zuckerberg’s handling of misinformation and hate speech. #StopHateForProfit is a pressure campaign by top civil rights groups including NAACP and Anti-Defamation League calling for advertisers to suspend marketing on Facebook.
OK Supreme Court rejected public health challenge to Trump campaign rally. OK National Guard activated to assist with rally security. Tulsa Mayor Bynum cancelled curfew around rally venue.
Trump refused to answer questions from CBS News reporter Paula Reid. She asked “Why do you keep hiring people that you believe are wackos and liars?” She also asked if the White House had Bolton’s book for six months prior to publication, why didn’t they try to block publication sooner.
UK agitator Katie Hopkins was permanently banned from Twitter after 75,000 people signed petition requesting her removal from social media platform.
Video confirmed no foul play in hanging death of Malcolm Harsch in CA, his family said.
Voice of America head Michael Pack, former associate of ex-White House adviser Steve Bannon, is purging news chiefs from multiple media organizations, raising alarms networks will be politicized with pro Trump and anti China propaganda.
#WomenScareTrump trended after Meidas Group shared video montage of Trump behaving badly with female journalists. A separate video was released demanding Trump be held accountable for his pattern of predatory harassment of women.

NC News

Face masks are now mandatory in Boone. After education and warning citations, violators may be fined up to $1,000.
NC Gov Roy Cooper again vetoed legislation which would have opened bars and gyms.
NC Zoo in Asheboro reopened with new health and safety protocols.
Raleigh demonstrators toppled statues from a confederate monument near the state capitol.

In my personal life…

Greg recently ordered Charmin Strong bathroom tissue online from Vitacost, owned by Kroger, because we couldn’t find it locally. After using Charmin Soft for 2 months and then switching back to Charmin Strong, we think maybe we made a mistake. Strong is significantly different than Soft, noticeably rougher than we remember. Apparently there was a controversial product change in 2013 though we only noticed the roughness recently. Did Charmin change the product again? Or did our sensitive bums simply get used to the softer product after 2 months of use? Anyone else notice a big change in June compared to March? We’re not literally butt hurt over the texture though we are considering switching to Soft if we don’t get used to Strong by the time we run out of current stock. #FirstWorldProblems

Greg and I drove back to the Virginia Carolina Enterprises open air market in Cana VA Friday morning to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, country ham, and some Amish style hand rolled butter. A few customers wore masks, including us of course, but none of the employees did.

Later in the day I picked raspberries and blackberries from our garden. I had picked and eaten a lot of berries recently so I offered this batch to son Austin which he stopped by after work to pick up. The raspberries are abundant this year though birds are eating about half of the blackberries before I can get to them. We have netting over most of the blueberry bushes and I’m estimating it will be another week or two before they are ripe enough to pick.

On the way home from VA we stopped in King (Kang) for brunch. I enjoyed a crispy buttermilk chicken biscuit and large iced hazelnut latte from McDonalds; employees wore masks and gloves. Greg opted for a tenderloin biscuit and grits from Stratford BBQ; no masks or gloves in sight except for his. I ate a chocolate chip cookie from Baked Just So bakery for an afternoon snack; Greg had stopped by to purchase cookies and cinnamon buns a day or two earlier. Greg ate watermelon as his afternoon snack. For dinner I prepared a baked potato and oven roasted squash medallions while Greg grilled marinated chicken in the air fryer. After dinner Greg surprised me with red beverages to celebrate Juneteenth: cranberry juice in a wine glass for me and fruit punch for him. For dessert Greg had a cinnamon bun. Minerva begged adoringly in hopes he would share with her but he didn’t. I gave her a bite of my grilled chicken with her regular kibble so don’t feel bad for that hound. She eats well every day, I assure you.

photo of Minerva begging for food

My daily action for racial justice Friday was to learn more about an incident at a Bojangles in Greensboro. Several days ago an African American woman working at the drive thru window was harassed by 3 white customers. They spat at her (near miss) and cursed at her because she would not give them free drinks. The store manager told the employee to keep working the line at the window while the manager walked outside to give the hostile customers free drinks. The customers stayed in the parking lot for an hour afterward, presumably to intimidate employees. The drive thru attendant was so upset that she quit her job, as did a few more employees, because the manager did not call the police to report the customers. Protestors have been boycotting Bojangles ever since.

Demonstrators are requesting an apology from Bojangles to the employee as well as criminal charges to be filed against the hostile customers. After receiving anonymous threats a few days after incident, Bojangles filed a police report about those threats, prompting Greensboro police to investigate the incident.

My daily action for racial justice Saturday will be to show my support for employees and protestors by contacting Bojangles corporate headquarters and the Greensboro restaurant to request the manager apologize to the employee who was harassed. Also, I am sharing Bojangles contact information via social media to request action from others.

An email message was sent to Bojangles HQ in Charlotte via their contact page at https://www.bojangles.com/contact/. Below is the message I sent:

AFTER READING ABOUT A RACIAL INCIDENT AT THE PISGAH CHURCH ROAD GREENSBORO LOCATION, I AM WRITING TO REQUEST THE STORE MANAGER APOLOGIZE TO THE EMPLOYEE WHO WAS HARASSED BY HOSTILE CUSTOMERS. I BELIEVE THE MANAGER OWES THE EMPLOYEE A PERSONAL APOLOGY AS WELL AS A PUBLIC APOLOGY ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THE INCIDENT COULD HAVE AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN HANDLED MORE PROFESSIONALLY BY MANAGEMENT. UNTIL THE MANAGER APOLOGIZES, I WILL NOT VISIT ANY BOJANGLES RESTAURANT. ALSO, I AM SHARING THIS INFORMATION WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO REQUEST THEY JOIN THE BOYCOTT UNTIL AN APOLOGY IS ISSUED.

FOR REFERENCE, HERE IS THE LINK TO THE NEWS STORY RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING THIS MATTER TO MY ATTENTION https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/bojangles-boycott-in-greensboro/83-44bf66c0-a380-4106-9a7e-4cc79245995a.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PROMPT ATTENTION TO THIS REQUEST.

NOTE: I did not type the message in all caps. Unfortunately the Bojangles web form automatically converted my text to all caps and I could not change the settings.

Every day until an apology is made I will call:

Greensboro restaurant at (336) 545-4019,

HQ in Charlotte at (704) 527-2675, and

customer service at 1 (800) 366-9921

to request an apology for the employee who was harassed.

I will do the same on social media, each and every day until the matter is resolved.

https://www.facebook.com/Bojangles/

https://twitter.com/Bojangles

I will snail mail typed and printed letters to the following addresses:

Bojangles #834

304 Pisgah Church Rd

Greensboro, NC 27455