Month: September 2020

More than 65 million people watched the first debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden Tuesday night.

The television audience for the debate was down from the first debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016, but it was higher than almost every other debate in recent years.

Tuesday’s clash was the biggest event on American TV since the Super Bowl last February.

Preliminary Nielsen ratings showed an average audience of roughly 64.7 million viewers across eight channels for the entirety of Tuesday’s prime time event.

The preliminary ratings include only Americans who watched at home on television. An unknown number of people live-streamed the debate on the internet, listened on the radio, and watched in other ways, which means the total audience easily surpassed 65 million.

Finalized Nielsen TV ratings figures are set to be released later in the day on Wednesday.

Some campaign officials and media executives predicted that the total audience would surpass the 2016 record, when the same group of channels cited above had a combined average of 75.8 million viewers.

(The final total for that debate, across 13 channels, was 84 million viewers, which smashed prior records for presidential debates.)

Politics fatigue may have been a factor in the lower level of viewership in 2020. Another reason may be the cringeworthy nature of Trump’s conduct. Many critics said afterward that it was the worst debate in modern American history.

Yet another factor to consider: The pandemic’s impact on broadcast television. With few new shows on prime time TV, broadcast viewership levels are lower than they were in 2016, which meant the debate had a smaller lead-in audience than it otherwise would have.

Streaming options are also more popular now than they were four years ago, so a greater number of people likely watched via live-streaming.

Despite the uncomfortable nature of Trump’s interruptions and the unbelievable nature of many of his claims, most viewers did keep watching until the end of the debate, according to the preliminary Nielsen data. Total viewership was quite consistent throughout the event.

Streaming viewership on CNN.com also peaked toward the end of the debate, at 10:20 p.m., according to internal metrics.

Some school libraries ban books because characters use witchcraft. Others do because of profanity or sexual content, or because of uncomfortable themes like racism.

But a great deal of the most frequently challenged books of the last decade center around LGBTQ characters and themes, an analysis from the American Library Association revealed.

In honor of “Banned Books Week” the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom published lists of the top 10 most challenged books of 2019 and the top 100 most frequently banned books of the decade.

Lists from years past show that censorship of LGBTQ stories is a recent trend. On the top 10 most challenged books of 2019 rankings, eight were challenged because of LGBTQ content. Several of them centered on transgender characters, like “George,” about a fourth-grade trans girl, and “I Am Jazz,” a picture book about real-life activist Jazz Jennings, who transitioned at a young age.

Others range from classics like “The Color Purple,” which features a lesbian relationship, to contemporary comics aimed at grade schoolers like “Sex is a Funny Word.”

Other frequently challenged books focused on Black characters, including “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas, which centers on police shootings and racism, and Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” and “Beloved.”

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, told CNN that her office has seen a “growing trend” of censoring books that prominently feature LGBTQ characters.

“There are members of every community that need and wanted these resources, that want to find themselves reflected in their library’s collections and programs,” she said. “This allows them to understand themselves in the world and affirm their identity.”

The dangers of censoring LGBTQ stories Henry Cody Miller, an assistant professor of English at the College of Brockport, State University of New York, wrote about the high number of LGBTQ books for Teaching Tolerance Magazine in 2019. Omitting narratives from schools can perpetuate harm, he said.

“Framing a book that features LGBTQ characters as ‘controversial’ places the onus of conflict on LGBTQ people,” he wrote. “There is nothing controversial or problematic about being a member of the LGBTQ community.”

Books about diverse experiences are beneficial for every reader, Caldwell-Stone said. “Books, novels, true stories and memoirs are ways of developing empathy for other people and their lives,” she said. “If we take that away from young people, we’re really depriving them of opportunities to develop as individuals, to understand the world.”

The number of frequently challenged LGBTQ books, though, also signals that books with these themes and characters are being published more frequently and read more widely.

But if a book is censored by school officials, it’s almost impossible for a librarian or teacher to get that book into a student’s hands, Caldwell-Stone said. That’s why Banned Books Week focuses on advocacy, too, and features talks with authors on access to literature.

Caldwell-Stone said it’s necessary to champion the inclusion of diverse books in collections, even if those books don’t align with one’s personal views, “so that everyone can find what they need in the library.”

Annapolis— Grace Dennis received a certification in hair loss February 26, 2020 after completing a hair loss class at the Atlanta Hilton Gardens Hotel in Kennesaw, Georgia.

As a certified hair loss specialist, Grace works in conjunction with derma- tologists and oncologists measuring and fitting chemotherapy and alopecia clients for hair loss systems and units. She is a member of the National Alopecia Areata Foundation (NAAF) and is a participant in the “Look Good, Feel Better” program through the American Cancer Society. Grace serves men, women and children.

If you or someone you know is suffering from hair loss issues, she can be reached at: Grace and Elegance Beauty Salon, Inc. located at 42 Hudson Street, Suite 211 in Annapolis, Maryland.

For more information, phone: 410-266-3305, email: gmdennis@verizon.net or visit her website: graceandeleganceinc.com

Courtesy Photo

Grace Dennis Certified Hair Loss Specialist

Annapolis— In conjunction with National Voter Registration Day, the Maryland State Board of Elections reminds all eligible Marylanders who have not yet registered to vote in the November 3 general election to do so. The deadline to register is October 13, 2020.

Those who have not yet registered can do so online using Maryland’s Online Voter Registration System or by submitting a voter registration application to their local board of elections or the Maryland State Board of Elections. Marylanders using the online registration system must complete the registration process no later than 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 13 in order to vote in the general election. Those who choose to send registration applications by mail must ensure the applications are postmarked no later than Oct. 13 in order to vote in the general election.

Same-day registration will also be offered to those Marylanders who choose to vote in person during early voting (Monday, October 26 to Monday, November 2) or on Election Day, November 3.

The Maryland Board of Elections encourages those who are already registered to go online and verify their voter information is accurate and up to date.

Every year, millions of Americans find themselves unable to vote because they miss a registration deadline, don’t update their registration, or aren’t certain how to register. National Voter Registration Day was created in 2012 to help address the issue, serving as a nonpartisan rallying point to help eligible voters across the country register and give them the option to participate in the democratic process. Since then, nearly 3 million citizens have registered to vote on the holiday, which takes place every year on the fourth Tuesday of September.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maryland State Board of Elections is encouraging voters to cast their ballots by mail. Applications for mail-in ballots have been sent via first-class U.S. Mail to eligible Maryland voters. Applications must be received by October 20. Mail-in ballots will be sent to voters by first-class U.S. Mail beginning in late September and continuing in October.

In addition to voting by mail or in person during early voting or on Election Day, Maryland voters can cast their ballots at authorized ballot drop box locations around the state. Locations will begin opening roughly 30 days prior to Election Day. Once open, the ballot drop boxes will remain open until 8 p.m. on Election Day, November 3, 2020.

My heart is broken over the passing of my shero, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. But as Ella Baker’s words declared and were written and set in music by Bernice Johnson Reagon: “We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes.”

And that is why we must honor our sister, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, by carrying on her relentless work for the emancipation of women, and the equality of all under the law.

Among Justice Ginsburg’s many critical judicial opinions were those involving disability rights, gender equality and affirmative action. The second woman appointed to the Supreme Court, she stood firmly against discrimination leveled against her because she was a woman and a Jew.

Her experiences as a woman and a mother, together with her superior intellect, shaped a legal philosophy firmly opposed to all forms of discrimination against marginalized people. She wrote bluntly in 1986, “to pretend that [affirmative action is unconstitutional] is to pretend that history never happened and that the present doesn’t exist.”

We all remember our sister’s fearless dissent from the 2013 Supreme Court decision to remove voting rights protections. Indeed it was that dissent that earned her the nickname “Notorious R.B. G.” When I vote in the November 3rd election, her name will be among the names of our heroes and sheroes that I will call. The sincerest tribute that can be paid to Justice Ginsburg is to vote and urge everyone we know to do the same.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed on the evening of the beginning of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, a time when wishes are extended for a joyous and peaceful new year. Join me in wishing that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s soul will rest ever so peacefully during her new year as an ancestor for justice…..and forever more.

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