POLITICS

Celebrating Black Descendants from Tuskegee Syphilis Study

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Last week at Howard University’s Cramton Auditorium, Ad Council COVID Collaborative Black Coalition Against COVID-19 JOY Collective The Legacy: Tragedy to Triumph, featuring descendants of The U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee speaking about the impact of the study and its relationship to present day’s COVID-19 vaccines.

The Legacy: Tragedy to Triumph is an extension of the It’s Up To You COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative that the Ad Council and COVID Collaborative developed to help consumers get the facts about COVID-19 vaccines, with a focus on Black and Hispanic/Latino communities. Many of the descendants who participated in the film were keen to stress distinctions between the study and the pandemic, highlighting that unlike the case for their relatives in the study, the COVID-19 vaccines are being offered to all Americans and not withheld from specific communities.

The event included a screening of the short documentary, followed by panel conversations about COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Black populations. Esteemed Director Deborah Riley Draper the first discussion with five descendants, where they shared how they first learned about family members involved in the study, their experiences filming the documentary, and a call to public service that compelled them to share their stories. The following descendants participated in the screening event:

Lillie Tyson Head, daughter of Freddie Lee Tyson and President of the Voices For Our Fathers Legacy Foundation. Head is a retired high school teacher and education consultant.
Carmen Head Thornton, granddaughter of Freddie Lee Tyson. Thornton is a Howard University graduate and currently serves as the Director of Research, Grants & Workforce, and Interim Director of Development at the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
Dr. Kimberly Carr, the great-great-granddaughter of John Goode. Dr. Carr received her Ph.D. in Integrative Biosciences in 2020 from Tuskegee University and currently works as a Community Resource Specialist at the Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center.
Omar Neal, nephew of Freddie Lee Tyson and Former Mayor of Tuskegee. Neal was born in the same hospital ward where the Tuskegee Study took place.
Leo Ware, whose two grandfathers were both part of the study. Ware is a business owner and is active with the Voices For Our Fathers Legacy Foundation.

The second panel discussion explored the science of vaccines and data related to current levels of vaccine adoption in the Black community and the need to keep this important yet painful history top of mind.

Dr. Cameron Webb, Senior Policy Advisor for Equity White House COVID-19 Response Team.
Dr. Reed Tuckson, co-founder of the Black Coalition Against COVID-19
Howard University School of Medicine medical students Micah Brown and Jasmin Thompson
Descendants Dr. Kimberly Carr and Carmen Head Thornton

Additional Participants Included:

Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt, director of the D.C. Department of Health, sharing remarks on behalf of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser
CEO of the Howard University Hospital Anita Jenkins discussing the imperative to center the needs of the Black community given the disproportionate impacts of the pandemic.
Sherry Thompson, Coalition Lead, Ad Council COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative
Kelli Richardson Lawson, CEO of JOY Collective, moderated the event by sharing with guests that the impetus for the project came from an article in The Washington Post Magazine about the It’s Up To You campaign.

About the Film

Directed by award-winning director and head of Coffee Bluff Pictures Deborah Riley Draper, the film follows members of six descendant families as they discuss how the study connects to the present-day pandemic and why they encourage Black Americans to learn the facts about the COVID-19 vaccines so they can make informed decisions for themselves and their loved ones. Accompanying the film are five 60-second PSAs that together comprise the film. Each of the PSAs and the full documentary film are available online here.

For many Black Americans, the recurring theme over the last 16 months has been about Tuskegee and the collective distrust of both the medical field and government. The Ad Council and COVID Collaborative launched the It’s Up To You COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative earlier this year in full acknowledgment of the vaccine hesitancy among some members of the Black community that is often driven by The U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee, commonly referred to as the Tuskegee Study.

Connections to COVID-19

For descendants of the men in the study, sharing the truth about what happened during the study is an opportunity to move from tragedy to triumph.

In addition, details released from the study sparked a wave of public health and clinical research reforms and protocols that continue today, including the creation of institutional review boards in the U.S. to ensure that every study conducted on human beings is examined; and informed consent requirements, not just for clinical trials but for medical procedures as well.

In between the two panels, Washington, D.C.-based artist and muralist, Candice S. Taylor presented a special painting she created in honor of the film and descendants of the study who participated in the campaign, for whom she will provide individual prints of the new artwork. Following the panel discussions, R&B singer and songwriter Raheem DeVaughn, also hailing from the Nation’s Capital, gave a special performance of his chart-topping hit song, Woman.

The event celebrating The Legacy: Tragedy to Triumph film was streamed live via Roland Martin Unfiltered and is now available on YouTube and clips will be available on the NAACP’s YouTube.

To learn more about the It’s Up To You campaign, The Legacy: Tragedy to Triumph film, and the descendants of The U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study At Tuskegee, visit GetVaccineAnswers.org/Legacy.

The Ad Council

The Ad Council has a long history of creating life-saving public service communications in times of national crisis, starting in the organization’s earliest days during World War II to September 11th and natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy. Its deep relationships with media outlets, the creative community, issue experts, and government leaders make the organization uniquely poised to quickly distribute life-saving information to millions of Americans.

The Ad Council is where creativity and causes converge. The non-profit organization brings together the most creative minds in advertising, media, technology, and marketing to address many of the nation’s most important causes. The Ad Council has created many of the most iconic campaigns in advertising history. Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk. Smokey Bear. Love Has No Labels.

The Ad Council’s innovative social good campaigns raise awareness, inspire action and save lives. To learn more, visit AdCouncil.org, follow the Ad Council’s communities on Facebook and Twitter, and view the creative on YouTube.

COVID Collaborative

COVID Collaborative, a project of UNITE, is a national assembly of experts, leaders, and institutions in health, education, and the economy and associations representing the diversity of the country to turn the tide on the pandemic by supporting federal, state, and local COVID-19 response efforts.

The COVID Collaborative is co-chaired by former Governor and U.S. Senator Dirk Kempthorne (R-ID) and former Governor Deval Patrick (D-MA) and led by CEO John Bridgeland and President Gary Edson. COVID Collaborative includes expertise from across Republican and Democratic administrations at the federal, state, and local levels, including former FDA commissioners, CDC directors, and U.S. surgeon generals; former U.S. secretaries of Education, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services; leading public health experts and institutions that span the country; the Business Roundtable, National Association of Manufacturers and U.S. Chamber of Commerce; the NAACP, UnidosUS and the National Congress of American Indians; the Skoll Foundation, The Allstate Foundation, and The Rockefeller Foundation; and associations representing those on the front lines, from the American Public Health Association and Association of State and Territorial Health Officials to the Council of Chief State School Officers and the Council of the Great City Schools. Tim Shriver is Chairman of UNITE. To learn more, visit www.CovidCollaborative.us, and follow the COVID Collaborative on Twitter and LinkedIn.

California Recall Candidates Debate at Nixon Library

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Candidates competing to replace Gavin Newsom as Governor of California will face off in a televised debate at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda on Wednesday, August 4, 2021, from 6:00 – 7:30 PM PT.

John Cox, Kevin Faulconer, Kevin Kiley, and Doug Ose will take the stage in a debate that will be broadcast live by Fox 11 Los Angeles.

Hugh Hewitt, president of the Richard Nixon Foundation, will moderate the debate along with panelists Christine Devine and Elex Michaelson of Fox 11 News and former U.S. National Security Adviser Ambassador Robert C. O’Brien.

Governor Gavin Newsom was invited to participate but did not respond to the invitation. Candidate Caitlyn Jenner was invited to participate but is unable to attend due to a prior commitment. Candidate Larry Elder’s campaign cleared the date but subsequently identified a conflict. The invitation to all three remains open and organizers are hopeful one or more will make the debate. The debate is being aired on Fox 11 Los Angeles, KTVU Fox 2 San Francisco, other Fox TV affiliates statewide, and on the Salem Radio Network and other radio stations.

The Nixon Foundation is holding spots for Newsom, Jenner, and Elder if any of those candidates decide to participate.

California voters will head to the polls on September 14 to decide whether Newsom should remain in office as Governor of California.

The Nixon Foundation is planning a second debate during the week of August 23 and has invited the same candidates to participate.

Debate participants were selected by applying the Richard Nixon Foundation’s proprietary internal metrics that the Foundation has used to select speakers and debate participants at the Nixon Library for more than 30 years.

Press must be credentialed to cover the debate. Audience tickets are limited and only available from the Nixon Foundation by request. There will be a designated press gallery room with Wi-FI and TVs to watch the debate. That space will double as a spin room if the candidates or campaigns choose to make themselves available for press.

The Richard Nixon Foundation, a nonprofit educational institution that co-operates the Nixon Library, is hosting both debates as a civic service to voters in order to highlight issues facing California today. Questions and topics will be decided among the moderator and panelists and will not be shared with the candidates in advance.

DEBATING THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE DRAFT

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By: Clara Guthrie

Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee have proposed a revolutionary reconfiguration of the federal military draft that is aimed at including women in the Selective Service System, according to a release from POLITICO. As the law stands now, all American men must register for the service when they turn 18, although the draft has not actually been enacted in more than 40 years since the Vietnam War. Refusing or failing to register can lead to fines, being denied student financial aid or federal jobs, and even prison time.

In the new proposal – authored by Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Jack Reed of Rhode Island – the language regarding who must enlist at 18 would be expanded to include “all Americans,” not just men.

The conversation around including women in the draft has picked up speed and garnered national attention in the past few years. In June, the National Coalition for Men brought a case to the Supreme Court that challenged the male-only draft, calling it unconstitutional. While the Court declined to hear the case, three Justices—Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer and Brett Kavanaugh—did release a public statement on the topic. The statement argued that the exclusions of women from the draft made little sense when considering how much the military has changed in the past four decades since the Supreme Court first held up the original policy. The tone of the statement was unsure about whether the draft meets the standard of “exceedingly persuasive justification” to discriminate on the basis of gender. The Justices also noted the monumental 2015 decision from the Pentagon to open all military combat roles to women as further evidence.

This hot-topic issue most recently entered Capitol Hill in 2016. At the time, the Senate voted to have the decision become part of the annual defense policy bill; the House Armed Services Committee adopted a similar provision, but eventually scrapped it. As a compromise, an independent commission was formed to study the draft and the pressing question of what role gender plays in it. In March of 2020, the commission published its final report, which backed the idea of requiring women to register for Selective Service.

However, another distinctive school of thought advocates for the abolition of the draft altogether, as opposed to requiring all young people to register regardless of gender. As Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby wrote in his recent piece, Women don’t register for the draft, and men shouldn’t either, “Selective Service has outlived its usefulness. It should be consigned to history. […] Congress shouldn’t just end male-only draft registration. It should end draft registration, period.” Jacoby goes on to argue that the draft is an outdated practice and that an all-volunteer army is far more effective: “Compared with draftees, [those who volunteer for service] work harder, serve longer, perform better, and are more likely to regard their service as a calling, not a compulsion. Their commitment and skill are reflected in the consistent No. 1 ranking of the military as the most trusted institution in America.” This final point is supported by a 2019 Gallup Poll that found that Americans trust the U.S. military more than any other public institution.

But, of course, there are legitimate issues posed by relying on a solely volunteer force. The All-Volunteer Force Forum (AVF Forum) is a network of military personnel and citizens alike who support some sort of draft being reinstated in order to combat the civil-military gap (a disconnect in views between military and non-military individuals). The AVF Forum cites issues including unsustainable recruiting techniques, a lack of socioeconomic and geographic diversity in the armed forces, and an inability to draw from the largest pool of possible candidates as all being exacerbated by a reliance on volunteerism.

In April, The AVF Forum held a conference to discuss potential amendments to the draft which do not include the complete dissolution of the institution. One solution is as follows:

“The conscription of only 5 to 10 percent of the force from the top 10 percent income tax bracket, [presented] by Marine Corps veteran and author Elliot Ackerman. The logic being that those within reach of the levers of power would be more inclined to limit military involvement if their own children faced drafting and deployment.”

No clear solution was reached at The AVF Forum conference, as the complicated debate continues to rage.

While it is unclear where exactly President Biden stands on the matter, he did share a clarifying quote at the Military Officers Association of America candidate forum in September of 2020 before he assumed the presidency. “The United States does not need a larger military, and we don’t need a draft at this time. […] I would, however, ensure that women are also eligible to register for the Selective Service System so that men and women are treated equally in the event of future conflicts,” said Biden.

The original proposition by the Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to be considered during committee markup this week. However, there will be no official floor action on the bill until at least later this year.

If the legislation eventually passes, the measure would only go into effect one year after approval.

Wildlife Rescue

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Wildlife conservationist/veterinarian on the front lines says it is possible for orangutans, elephants and monkeys to coexist with palm oil plantations

The island of Borneo, divided among Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, is home to one of the world’s oldest rainforests. Borneo also produces about 80 percent of the world’s palm oil, a vegetable oil considered vital for global food security. Here in the U.S., palm oil is widely used in everything from snack foods and chocolate to cosmetics.

But palm oil production is also blamed for Borneo’s disappearing rainforest, destroying wildlife habitats including those of the orangutan, which has become the face of a global anti-palm oil movement.

“In the past 50 years, things have gone from bad to worse. Efforts to preserve the area’s wildlife need to be ramped up,” stresses wildlife conservationist and veterinarian Nathan Sen, DVM, whose first job out of vet school involved rescuing orangutans.

Now as manager of Malaysia’s Wildlife Rescue Unit and leader of the Sabah Wildlife Department’s new endangered species conservation unit, Sen is boots-on-the-ground in Borneo. He sees the sad realities.

Forest destruction is a rallying cry for the anti-palm movement. “Palm oil is called a golden crop. Its production is a valuable source of income, which has contributed to this worldwide ecological concern. In some areas of the world, local farmers dreaming of a better livelihood have burned down forests and converted the land to oil palm plantations,” Sen explains.

But more recently, he sees glimmers of hope that may cause people to have a different perspective on the palm oil controversy.

The situation is shifting toward peaceful coexistence

“The forest is one of Mother Earth’s greatest gifts to humans,” says Sen. “Palm oil can be produced more efficiently than other vegetable oils such as soy or rapeseed (canola).” It can also be produced responsibly. “By national law here in Malaysia, for example, all palm oil must be produced sustainably. There is also a strict ban on forest burning, as well as other initiatives to change palm oil production’s impact on our planet.

“One of the government’s initiatives is to stop the development of any new palm oil plantations and improve production of our existing plantations. This is being done by introducing better trees that can produce more oil, and by improving the oil extraction process to increase the output, so the industry does not require more land,” Sen elaborates.

Another program involves creating wildlife reserve areas along riverbanks. “By not planting against the rivers, orangutans, elephants and proboscis monkeys can now use the river’s edge for their habitat,” says Sen.

In the Malaysian parts of Borneo, the states of Sabah and Sarawak, there is a stable population of orangutans numbering between 11,000 and 13,000. The Malaysian wildlife and forestry authorities have taken necessary measures so now this wild population lives mostly inside a protected natural habitat area, where they can thrive.

This strong governmental support of national wildlife conservation programs is having a positive influence on the country’s palm oil farmers.

“Ten years ago, farmers wanted to keep wildlife out of their plantations. I see a big change in that mentality,” Sen confirms. “More farmers now feel comfortable about coexisting with wildlife. They realize they share the forests with elephants and orangutans. They are allowing them to roam freely across their land. They are coming to understand that if we treat our wildlife with respect, the damage they may cause to the crop is quite negligible.”

He adds that he is very encouraged to see that orangutans are beginning to use Malaysia’s palm oil plantations as their habitat. It’s yet another sign that the country is managing the delicate balance between caring for its wildlife and its economy.

Is the war on palm oil still justified?

If palm oil were to be banned, it would need to be replaced by less land-efficient crops. And as Malaysia has proven, palm oil production can be accomplished while protecting wildlife and forests.

But there is still much work to be done. “Many people still don’t realize that palm oil is the most sustainable choice. For sustainable palm oil production to expand globally, there must be demand by the public. Be vocal about asking companies to source their palm oil from producers who are protecting the rainforests. And buy from companies that have already made that important commitment, such as Coca-Cola, Nestle and Unilever,” recommends Sen.

“While you may never see an orangutan in the wild, your food and personal care product purchases can help ensure these wonderful creatures have safe homes for generations to come.”

Halsey Announces Film to Accompany her New Album

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Today, Halsey shared the trailer for If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, an hour-long film experience set to the music of her upcoming album of the same name. Written by Halsey, it was directed by Colin Tilley, who previously worked with her on the official videos for her chart-topping singles Without Me and You Should Be Sad.

Select cities and theaters will be announced soon for the film experience. Tickets will go on sale Tuesday, August 3, for IMAX showings.

Halsey’s fourth studio album will be released by Capitol Records on August 27. Fans can pre-order the album on Halsey’s store. If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power was produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, known for their work in Nine Inch Nails, and as Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy-winning film/television composers. Halsey penned all of the album’s songs.

About Halsey

In her career to date, Halsey has surpassed 60 million RIAA-certified units across albums, singles and features. Worldwide, she has sold over 150 million adjusted singles. If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power follows Manic, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Current Albums chart. It was the first album of 2020 to be certified Platinum in the U.S. and attained Platinum certification in numerous other countries also.

She continues to push creative boundaries, expanding her influence and impact beyond music. Her first book, I Would Leave Me If I Could: A Collection of Poetry, debuted on The New York Times Best Sellers list last November. Named as one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020, she has won over 20 awards, including an AMA, MTV VMA, GLAAD Award, the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s Hal David Starlight Award and a CMT Music Award. Halsey recently introduced about-face, a multi-dimensional makeup line made for everyone. Halsey continues to use her voice to speak up for causes she passionately believes in, including disenfranchised youth, women’s rights, mental health and the LGBTQ community.

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CHARLOTTESVILLE REMOVES STATUES

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THREE YEARS AFTER UNITE

By: Clara Guthrie

On Saturday, the university town of Charlottesville, Virginia removed four controversial statues from its public grounds: two of Confederate generals and two that depicted Native Americans in a distinctly disparaging way.

The first bronze statue to be lifted from its stone pedestal was that of Robert E. Lee, the infamous commander of the Confederate Army, which stood in Market Street Park. This public park was once named in the general’s honor until June of 2017 when it became known as Emancipation Park; one year later, it was yet again renamed as Market Street Park.

As the crane was put in place to remove the statue of Lee, the city’s mayor, Nikuyah Walker, spoke to onlookers. “Taking down this statue is one small step closer to the goal of helping Charlottesville, Virginia, and America grapple with the sin of being willing to destroy Black people for economic gain,” she said.

Two hours later, the statue of Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson—who gained his enduring nickname after successfully commanding a brigade in the First Battle of Bull Run—was taken down from its place in Court Square Park. Similar to the tale of Market Street Park, this spot once boasted the name of Stonewall Jackson, was renamed Justice Park and has since become Court Square Park.

In response to the removal of both statues, associate professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia Jalane Schmidt said, “I literally felt lighter when the statues came down, it was such a relief.”

According to CNN, both statues have been placed in storage while the city pursues different places to preserve and, more importantly, contextualize them such as museums, historical societies or Civil War battlefields. The city has reportedly already received 10 offers, six of which are out of state and four of which are within the state of Virginia.

This ultimate removal and push for contextualization came after nearly five years of heated court battles and protests. Back in 2016, then-high school student and current student at the University of Virginia, Zyahna Bryant, launched a petition to get the statues removed from their dominant positions over the city. Early the following year, city council voted to take down the statues, but this action was thwarted by a legal challenge. During the summer of 2017, “the statues of Lee and Jackson—and threats to remove them—served as a rallying cry for the far right,” as NPR said. On August 11 and 12 of that summer, this tension boiled over into the horrific, violent and racist riots of the Unite the Right Rally. On the second day of rioting, white supremacist neo-Nazis came to a head with counter-protesters when one man drove his car into a crowd, killing one woman, Heather Heyer, and injuring 19 others, only a few steps away from the statue of Robert E. Lee.

It was not until April of this year that the Supreme Court of Virginia overturned the original challenge to the removal of the statues. On June 7, the city council voted once again to remove the state-owned statues.

The racist legacy of these statues and the necessity of their overdue removal goes deeper than the obvious immortalization of individuals who dedicated themselves to the perpetuation of the enslavement of Black people. These statues are also artifacts of the Jim Crow era in Virginia, seeing as they were not erected in the immediate wake of the Civil War, but in fact decades later. The Robert E. Lee statue, for example, was not dedicated until 1924. NPR described the unveiling ceremonies of these statues:

“Charlottesville’s statues of Lee and Jackson were erected in the early 1920s with large ceremonies that included Confederate veteran reunions, parades and balls. At one event during the 1921 unveiling of the Jackson statue, children formed a living Confederate flag on the lawn of a school down the road from Vinegar Hill, a prominent Black neighborhood. The Jackson statue was placed on land that had once been another prosperous Black neighborhood.”

The programs coordinator from the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society, Sterling Howell, said on the installment of Confederate memorials, “This was at the height of Jim Crow segregation, at the height of lynchings in American history. […] There was a clear statement that [Black people] weren’t welcome.”

In addition to the removal of these bronzed Confederate generals, the city also took down two statues that included harmful depictions of Native Americans.

The first statue was of Revolutionary War general George Rogers Clark on his horse in front of three crouching Native Americans and two frontiersmen behind them, one of whom was raising his rifle. This statue sat on University of Virginia grounds, across from the popular dining and shopping area called “The Corner.”

The second statue depicted famous explorers, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, standing tall and looking outwards while Sacagawea squatted beside them. The statue stood outside a federal courthouse downtown.

Just as Zyahna Bryant opened the door to the conversation around removing Confederate statues across the city, Anthony Guy Lopez, a University of Virginia graduate and member of the Crow Creek Sioux tribe, started a petition to remove the Lewis and Clark statue back in 2009. “If art can be evil, these were evil,” Lopez said. “What this says to American Indians is that violence is a part of our lives, and that we have to not only accept but glorify it.”

According to city council member Michael Payne, the council voted in favor of the removal of the Lewis and Clark statue in the fall of 2019. The process of removal was significantly sped up, however, after the contracting company that removed the Lee and Jackson statues offered last-minute to take down the George Rogers Clark and Lewis and Clark statues at no additional cost.

While these four statues no longer loom over the busy streets and passing-by residents of Charlottesville, Virginia, the fight to come to terms with the racist history of Virginia, the South and the entirety of America is nowhere close to over. In Charlottesville alone, ties to this dark past are enduring. As just one example, the man who commissioned all four of the aforementioned statues, Paul Goodloe McIntire, is still immortalized across the city, including as the name for the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce.

What Will Happen To The Gates Foundation?

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Commentary by Samy Dwek, Founder and CEO, The Family Office Doctor

and White Knight Consulting

We’ve seen in the press today articles about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It was a foundation that they started with a very clear purpose and focus on helping third world countries, eradicating certain diseases, and researching diseases such as Parkinson’s, HIV, and others. It’s phenomenal in terms of what they’re trying to do.

Unfortunately, Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates have decided to separate. How does this impact the family foundation? Yes, they’ve grown apart. They’ve decided to separate their ways amicably. Clearly, their focus points and their desires of what they want to accomplish are different.

The problem is, in most family foundation trusts, people don’t plan for what happens in case of divorce. That’s not in the planning and maybe it should be. Maybe it’s something we need to think more about and discuss more openly. Not that we are preempting or provoking; we should be planning in case of such an eventuality.

The Gates Foundation currently has close to $50 billion. It’s not an insignificant amount of money, and they’re talking about adding another 15 to $20 billion. So again, these are significant amounts of money that can have a major impact on the focus points that these two individuals have.

So how do they go forward? What’s been very interesting is that Melinda French Gates has decided that she’s going to stay on for two years. Let’s see whether they can make this work or whether they fail to get along or see eye to eye on the objectives of the foundation.

Bill Gates has agreed in principle that they will set aside new money into a new foundation controlled by Melinda French so that they can then continue their missions. What does that mean for family foundations? I think they need to have those discussions. They need to put planning in place.

What would happen if this eventuality should occur in your family? How would it impact your family foundation? What mechanisms do you have in place so that you could separate those funds? It doesn’t have to be just in the case of divorce. It could be brothers or sisters decide that they want to go in different directions.

So what mechanisms have you put in place? It’s something to discuss with legal counsel, something to think about because at the end of the day, we’re human beings. We have different ideas and we grow in different ways. But if we’re creating a family foundation, if we’re trying to help benefit others and pass on the goodwill, let’s make sure anything that happens to us doesn’t negatively impact them.

Playboy × SuperRare

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Playboy, the iconic lifestyle brand owned by leading pleasure and leisure lifestyle company PLBY Group, Inc., today announced its first curation partnership with SuperRare, the Miami Beach Art Collection. The collection will go live July 9th. An expanded version of a digital exhibit previewed to thousands of Crypto enthusiasts at BTC 2021 Miami, the collection features original animated works by Ayla El-Moussa, REK0DE, Jon Noorlander and MBSJQ, and an original heritage photograph unearthed from the Playboy Archives, featuring a Playboy Bunny pictured water-skiing outside of the Miami Playboy Club in 1970. As an added bonus, the first collector of the heritage NFT will receive a framed limited-edition print, courtesy of the Playboy Archives. Playboy is now whitelisted as one of the very first curators on SuperRare’s platform with the ability to curate and release ongoing collections.

The Miami Beach Art Collection will be featured on July 10th during the first weekend of Decentraland’s second annual Art Week, a week-long virtual art fair featuring leading galleries and auction houses. The Playboy and the Decentraland teams have partnered to design a Playboy-branded art gallery in Decentraland’s Crypto Valley. The fully customized Miami Beach-themed space will feature the five NFTs surrounded by a selection of heritage covers and imagery from the Playboy Archives, as well as a sand- and sea-covered floor, palm trees, and a tropical color palette. Additional highlights will include a co-branded bar, an exclusive DJ set, and a curatorial overview of the exhibit provided by Playboy.

“We’re honored to join the SuperRare community, and so excited to present our first collaboration during Decentraland Art Week,” said Rachel Webber, Chief Brand Officer at Playboy. “We’ve long admired SuperRare’s curatorial vision and are thrilled to continue Playboy’s legacy as a curator of artistic expression on the platform. We also want to say a huge thank you to the always inspiring and innovative Decentraland team for inviting us to participate in their second inaugural art festival, and for their ongoing creative collaboration.”

“I’m super excited for SuperRare to be partnering with Playboy. The brand has supported incredible artists over the decades from Dalí to Warhol to Haring,” says John Crain, CEO of SuperRare. “NFTs are a new medium for artists and it’s great to see Playboy join the ecosystem.”

“Playboy made a huge splash in Decentraland back in May of this year with ‘Liquid Summer’, it’s first-ever NFT collection,” said Sam Hamilton, Community & Events Lead, Decentraland Foundation. “To return so soon with Miami Beach Art Collection shows not only how committed Playboy is to digital art and the artists but its belief in the power and future of the metaverse. Visitors to Art Week are in for a real treat.

About Playboy Art

For the past 67 years, Playboy has provided a platform for artists, writers, and photographers to express themselves with total freedom. From Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí to Keith Haring and Andy Warhol to Kinuko Kraft and LeRoy Neiman, Playboy has served as a creative incubator for some of the world’s most legendary artists long before they became household names. Playboy’s contemporary arts program continues to build on that legacy by serving as a platform for more female artists and diverse voices, including recent collaborations with some of today’s most exciting creatives, such as Marilyn Minter, Hank Willis Thomas, JR, Nick Cave, Betty Tompkins and many more. At the core of this evolution is a continued desire to push the boundaries of storytelling, to marry high and low sensibilities, and to champion artists who are igniting important conversations surrounding censorship, sexuality, and freedom of expression.

About PLBY Group, Inc.

PLBY Group, Inc. connects consumers around the world with products, services, and experiences to help them look good, feel good, and have fun. PLBY Group serves consumers in four major categories: Sexual Wellness, Style & Apparel, Gaming & Lifestyle, and Beauty & Grooming. PLBY Group’s flagship consumer brand, Playboy, is one of the most recognizable, iconic brands in the world, driving billions of dollars in global consumer spending annually across approximately 180 countries. Learn more here.

About SuperRare

Founded in 2017, SuperRare is a pioneering online, peer-to-peer marketplace for premium, single edition non-fungible tokens (NFTs), most notably CryptoArt, built on the Ethereum blockchain. Created with the goal of reinventing art collecting for the digital age, SuperRare has facilitated artists and collectors around the world to sell and purchase more than $71M worth of art in the last year alone. On the heels of a successful first round of funding in 2021, SuperRare continues to work with key art curation and auction partners across the globe.

About Decentraland

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Surfside Collapse Updates

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As rescue efforts continue and further investigation is made into the Surfside building collapse, the death toll rises to 32 and 113 remain unaccounted for.

The remaining structure for the Champlain Towers South building was demolished on Sunday night. Living residents were not permitted to enter the premises to retrieve their property in advance, as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis remarked, “Obviously it wasn’t worth the risk, we cannot lose any more people.” The sister building, Champlain Towers North, was also evacuated out of an abundance of caution, as well as other nearby complexes with safety concerns like Crestview Towers.

Hurricane Elsa threatened further damage and destruction, which was ameliorated by the demolition. Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said, “The looming threat of that building – the dangerous situation where debris could fall down – is now eliminated.” Rescue efforts can now continue in full force, while search and rescue teams strive to retrieve all survivors and remains from the site. However, now 11 days after the initial collapse, anguished families are losing hope that they will ever be reunited with their loved ones.

Victims range from ages 4 to 92. Amongst the victims are at least four children, including the 7-year old daughter of a Miami firefighter, Stella Cattarossi. 113 residents still remain unaccounted for, with at least 70 of those missing confirmed to be in the building at the time of the collapse.

Investigation into the cause of the collapse reveals a complicated history of building safety failures and major structural damage, which also reflects onto the larger, flawed system of building safety recertification.

Regulation dictates that nearly every building in the Miami Dade County area must be examined and recertified after 40 years and every 10 years thereafter the first recertification. The Champlain Towers board had begun this process in 2018 when they brought in engineer Frank Morabito to review the tower. Morabito reported that failed waterproofing caused major structural damage, adding that “failure to replace the waterproofing in the near future will cause the extent of the concrete deterioration to expand exponentially.”

Morabito detailed the major design flaws in original construction, specifically focusing on the waterproofing below the pool deck and around the garage – two of the primary locations of damage in the initial collapse. “Abundant cracking and spalling of varying degrees was observed in the concrete columns, beams, and walls,” he wrote, attaching images of “new cracks radiating from the originally repaired cracks,” as a result of failed attempts to patch the concrete quickly. He warned the board that repairs would be extremely expensive and cause “a major disturbance to residents.”

Morabito’s report also identified additional problem areas and complaints from residents. The New York Times reported that “residents were complaining of water coming through their windows and balcony doors, and the concrete on many balconies also was deteriorating.”

The board forwarded this report to city officials, but Mayor Daniella Levine Cava of Miami-Dade County said officials there knew nothing of this report, thus confirming suspicions that building regulation enforcement is too lax or enforced unevenly across the board. In response, Mayor Cava announced a 30-day audit of all buildings over 40 years old.

Resident Jay Miller recalled that almost everyone in the building knew of the 2018 report, but the concern wasn’t so much the structural damage as the cost of repairs. The exorbitant price of the repairs, estimated around $9 million in 2019, caused infighting and tension amongst the Champlain Towers board members, and ultimately led the majority of the board to resign by fall of 2019.

Efforts to comply with recertification and address building damage continued in 2020 when residents were informed about upcoming repairs. They were told about design flaws in water drainage and structural damage, but not given an accurate understanding of the extensiveness of the damage or warned that collapse was a potential risk. Different language has been used over the years by a variety of people to describe the damage, possibly contributing to different understandings of the severity of deterioration or urgency of repairs.

Morabito’s services were employed again when Morabito Consultants was brought on board in June 2020 to plan and prepare for extensive repairs, but the coronavirus pandemic slowed progress in rectifying building damage. Water issues in the roof were also found at this time, though it is unknown how or if the roof’s condition contributed to the collapse.

A report by researchers at Florida International University detailing where land in Miami was sinking only served to complicate matters more as it indicated that the land on which the Champlain Towers were built is a hot spot for sinkage. Researcher Shimon Wdowinski estimates the building has sunk into the ground at least 2 inches and has been sinking for over two decades.

A letter by board president Jean Wodnicki from April 9, 2021 revealed that the board did not have enough money to pay the now $15.5 million tab of repairs. However, they are likely now facing even more costs in lawsuits to come.

Morabito Consultants has since released a statement clarifying their involvement with the history of building damages at Champlain Towers: “Our firm exclusively provides engineering consulting services. We do not provide construction-related services, such as building repair and restoration contracting. We are deeply troubled by this building collapse and are working closely with the investigating authorities to understand why the structure failed. As we do so, we also continue to pray for all those impacted by this tragic event.”

Search and rescue efforts will continue as we learn more about the circumstances behind the collapse. City of Miami Fire Rescue Capt. Ignatius Carroll says, “We continue to remain focused on our primary mission, and that is to leave no stone unturned and to find as many people as we can and to help bring either some answers to family and loved ones or to bring some closure to them.”

Written by Sydney Mayer