May 5, 2020
As America Partially Reopens, Many are Caught in the Middle of the Political
By Hamil R. Harris
Actresses Cara Santana snd Geri Allen stand in front of the movie “Be The Light." They and other entertainers are awaiting a Hollywood reopening.
(TriceEdneyWire.com) - In Greenbelt, Maryland Thomas Robinson can only wait for the day when the barbershop where he cuts hair can re-open.
In Dayton Ohio, Michelle Trigg, doesn’t know when hair salon, beauty supply outlet and restaurant will open.
And in Los Angeles, actress Geri Allen can only work and rehearse lines on zoom because her studio and the rest of Hollywood is locked up.
Last month, President Donald Trump, flanked by a stage filled with officials, told the country at a White House briefing last month that by May 1 America would be reopening because, “America wants to be open, and Americans want to be open.”
But weeks after that declaration Trump and members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force yielded to Governors across the country who are making their own decision of how and when to open.
“It has been hard on me because I have not cut hair in almost two months,” said Robinson, 50, who has been cutting hair since he was a 15-year-old growing up in Huntsville Alabama. “We need to get back to making money but I understand the shut down.”
In Maryland, a lawsuit was filed in federal court in Baltimore against Governor Hogan and state health officials by the coalition, “ReOpen Maryland,” to lift Hogan’s stay-at-home orders and other restrictions that included the closing of barbershops and hair saloons.
Robinson said that he is also concerned about the Governor’s plan to reopen on a limited basis. “When we reopen they said that we can only have one customer at a time by appointment only but most of money comes from walk-ins.”
In Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine encountered protesters over the weekend who want him to lift the state’s ban on businesses and schools opening. There were similar protest in Michigan, Virginia and Presidential battle ground states.
But DeWine, a Republican lawmaker, said during a press conference that it is not fair for protesters, fueled by President Trump and conservative pundits, to insert politics at a time he has instituted some measures designed to protect people against COVID19..
Trigg, a college administrative assistant who lives in Dayton, said she supports the Governor’s move but his decisions are not easy to live with. “I miss the hair supply, the beauty salons and the restaurants where you can sit down, but I have lost 12 pounds because I have been cooking instead going to the carry-out.
In California, Governor Gavin Newsome told reporters that he was easing restrictions in some areas but change will come in stages. “to make sure we’re prepared for this next phase as we begin to modify the stay-at-home order.”
But Newsome’s words were little consolation to Allen who has been working full-time as an actress for more than a decade.
“The studios are closed and for me that means no auditions or call backs and no roles,” said Allen who has appeared on commercials and films. “ Right now its time to practice using zoom, exercise and do some writing.”
There is also much change for Wanda Parker, an elementary school special education teacher in Pensacola Florida. “With my students it is more than having them watching Google hangout at home. I have to write five different plans because my students are different.”
But what concerns Parker most of all is not her work but the conduct of many people who she’s flocking today the beach and ignoring any restrictions or social distancing because in Florida some orders were never in place.
“Many of our churches never closed. In Louisiana they had to enforce the rules because more than 2,000 people showed up. I think there needs to be one uniformed standard for everybody.”