Minutes 09/22/2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

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September 22, 2020 service should be valued in every aspect and not taken for granted by my city… Portsmouth. Our clients tell us regularly they do not know where they would be without us… Sometimes they say we are the only person in a day who actually had a real conversation with them… As an African American woman I too have stories of life threatening events due to the mere darker pigmentation of my skin. Ask yourself this question as I have tried during this crazy time in our city which truthfully has challenged us all to be better. At the end of the day and your life season will you be able to look in your love one’s eye (son, daughter, husband, wife, nieces, nephews, etc.) and see love, respect, great admiration for how you fought for good change or will you know in your mind and heart you will see something that makes you uneasy and prompts the awareness that you were unwilling to have uncomfortable conversations due to fear of wanting to fit in and not be ostracized. You see what is in a man’s heart so is he. Where your mind goes so does your body. You the Council of Portsmouth where is your heart and where will you go to truly make a difference in the heart of the people you want to hear you. You will die one day as we all will and things, egos, narcissism, mean-spiritedness, fleshly wants and desires, grandiosity will either die with you or be perpetuated in those we leave behind. You see it is a man’s struggles that will help him realize his purpose. My purpose is to leave my children with the though that true FREEDOM and RESPECT is an ongoing journey. At the end of our days no one really cares about the titles or the alphabet soup letters behind our names.. What matters to people is that indeed we let them know they do matter and as I tell the people I serve I SEE YOU… Our purpose in the bigger scheme of life’s puzzle should not be desire titles or alphabet soup letter behind our names, or praise. It should be to complete our assignment and feel we tried to do our life’s job well. My hope is that I utilized my small piece of the puzzle to the best of my ability. Regardless of the determination in regards to Helga and myself I have peace knowing our clients appreciate what we do even if certain mechanisms have caused me to ponder does my city. Like many service workers we jeopardize our safety and our families who we go home to daily just as the nurses who make the Methadone Clinic a success do. Ironically in my initial email to all parties I was told to send it to I advocated for all the nurses. However before my meeting with Mrs. Little-Hill I found out the Methadone Nurses had already received the $1500.00 Hazard Pay. Smh… sorry for that acronym. I just had to do that. Now how is that suppose to foster the theme the City of Portsmouth wants to project. Teamwork???? Sadly it reminds me of the Crab phenomenon. Oftentimes in our attempt to deal with overlooked and minimized frustration we feel we can contribute to scenarios that I have found others use as Minstrel Shows and use to further their causes. This reminds me of something my mom once told me. At the time “Black” was the acceptable term for our race.. She said Darlene when you work as hard to be Black as I did to be colored come talk to me. She told me as I got older you have no idea what people will do under the disguise of Racial justice… She said forget the race part.. Justice for who she said??? Growing up when I did and finding out about the Hazard Pay scenario at PSBHS it tapped in to a place of sadness and disappointment. Regardless of circumstances and how I feel I hold onto the values and sense of character that I know will outlast the ignorance of man. It is not the mind of man that can be changed but his heart. Change is difficult and every man thinks he is right in his own mind. I am not troubled by trouble. I realize there is a specific work we all have been tasked to do and we as individual must search and determine if the plans, decision, and game plans we devise are truly for the betterment of the people or for a certain group of people. Being different can be difficult and uncomfortable conversations have to be had. So to the Council of Portsmouth and the city Mr. Jasper Short helped me to love I ask you to research and determine if Helga Burney, myself, along with many other people employed by the City of Portsmouth who have diligently served the people should be considered for the Hazard Pay. Secondly what can we as individuals and collectively do to rectify the insurmountable of hatred, anger, insecurity, fear, and death we are perpetuating in our city that is disguised as concern. I hate that at this time in our city I still cannot tell if I smell the aroma of genuine authenticity or the stench of the continued fake persona that has been so ingrained in some they have it on in the am before they get out of bed. My question is CONCERN for WHO? My hope is if we genuinely work