Windsor-Essex students come together for Black Joy, Black Excellence symposium
The second Annual Black Joy, Black Excellence Student Symposium took place on Tuesday. This year's theme is 'Express Yourself." The event was led by the Black Student Advisory Committee and over 500 Black students from across Essex County took part. CBC Windsor stopped by the event and spoke with some students and organizers.
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Toronto Star
3 days ago
- Toronto Star
Families of those killed in collapse of Georgia ferry dock sue companies that built it
ATLANTA (AP) — Relatives of seven people who drowned in waters off a Georgia island after a ferry dock walkway collapsed announced Wednesday they filed a lawsuit against the companies that designed and built it. Dozens of people were standing on the metal walkway over the water between a ferry boat and a dock on Sapelo Island when it snapped in the middle. Many plunged into the water and got swept away by tidal currents, while others clung desperately to the hanging, fractured structure. The tragedy Oct. 19 struck as about 700 people visited Sapelo Island for a celebration of the tiny Hogg Hummock community founded by enslaved people who were emancipated after the Civil War. Reachable only by boat, it's one of the few Gullah-Geechee communities remaining in the South, where slaves worked on isolated island plantations retained much of their African heritage. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW 'It was supposed to be a celebration of Black pride, but it became a day of great, great, great Black loss of humanity and life,' civil rights attorney Ben Crump, one of several lawyers behind the lawsuit, told an Atlanta news conference. 'We're filing this lawsuit to speak to that tragedy.' Attorneys for the families of those killed and more than three dozen survivors say the 80-foot (24-meter) walkway was weak because of a lack of structural reinforcement, poor welding and failure by the Georgia firm that built it to follow design plans. The walkway was 'so poorly designed and constructed that any competent construction professional should have recognized the flimsy and unstable nature of the gangway,' the lawsuit says. Regina Brinson, one of the suing survivors, said she was on the crowded walkway when she heard a loud crack and saw family friend Carlotta McIntosh plunge into the water holding her walker. Brinson and her uncle, Isaiah Thomas, also fell. Brinson recalled prying her uncle's fingers from her shirt to avoid being dragged underwater. Both Thomas and McIntosh died. 'The pain doesn't get any easier whatsoever,' Brinson told the Atlanta news conference. Kimberly Wood said she tumbled from the collapsed walkway clutching her 2-year-old daughter. Her older girl, 8, clung to the dangling walkway's railing. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Wood said she managed to tread water until she reached a life preserver tossed from the ferry boat. Her older daughter was rescued and treated for wounds to her hand, said Wood, who had an injured shoulder. 'I'm shaking now just taking about it,' said Wood, another plaintiff. The lawsuit targets four private contractors hired to design and rebuild the ferry dock and walkway for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The project was finished in 2021. The walkway was fabricated by McIntosh County business Crescent Equipment Co. Its attorney, Clinton Fletcher, declined to comment. The project's general contractor, Virginia-based Centennial Contractors Enterprises, said by email that it doesn't comment on pending litigation. Architecture and engineering firms also named as defendants did not immediately comment. The lawsuit doesn't target the Department of Natural Resources or any other Georgia state agency. It says the department relied on its private contractors to ensure the walkway was safely built, which was 'beyond the scope of the DNR's internal expertise and qualifications.' The agency told The Associated Press last year that the walkway should have been able to support the weight of 320 people. About 40 people were standing on it when it snapped. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW 'There was supposed to be a certified professional engineer that signed off on that part of the project and that was neglected,' said Chadrick Mance, a Savannah attorney representing nine of the injured. Filed in Gwinnett County State Court in metro Atlanta, the lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for negligence, wrongful deaths and personal injuries. The cause of the collapse remains under investigation by the state officials, said Haley Chafin, a spokesperson for the Department of Natural Resources. State Attorney General Chris Carr also tapped a private engineering firm to perform an independent investigation. ___ Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. ___ Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Families of those killed in collapse of Georgia ferry dock sue companies that built it
ATLANTA (AP) — Relatives of seven people who drowned in waters off a Georgia island after a ferry dock walkway collapsed announced Wednesday they filed a lawsuit against the companies that designed and built it. Dozens of people were standing on the metal walkway over the water between a ferry boat and a dock on Sapelo Island when it snapped in the middle. Many plunged into the water and got swept away by tidal currents, while others clung desperately to the hanging, fractured structure. The tragedy Oct. 19 struck as about 700 people visited Sapelo Island for a celebration of the tiny Hogg Hummock community founded by enslaved people who were emancipated after the Civil War. Reachable only by boat, it's one of the few Gullah-Geechee communities remaining in the South, where slaves worked on isolated island plantations retained much of their African heritage. 'It was supposed to be a celebration of Black pride, but it became a day of great, great, great Black loss of humanity and life,' civil rights attorney Ben Crump, one of several lawyers behind the lawsuit, told an Atlanta news conference. 'We're filing this lawsuit to speak to that tragedy.' Attorneys for the families of those killed and more than three dozen survivors say the 80-foot (24-meter) walkway was weak because of a lack of structural reinforcement, poor welding and failure by the Georgia firm that built it to follow design plans. The walkway was 'so poorly designed and constructed that any competent construction professional should have recognized the flimsy and unstable nature of the gangway,' the lawsuit says. Regina Brinson, one of the suing survivors, said she was on the crowded walkway when she heard a loud crack and saw family friend Carlotta McIntosh plunge into the water holding her walker. Brinson and her uncle, Isaiah Thomas, also fell. Brinson recalled prying her uncle's fingers from her shirt to avoid being dragged underwater. Both Thomas and McIntosh died. 'The pain doesn't get any easier whatsoever,' Brinson told the Atlanta news conference. Kimberly Wood said she tumbled from the collapsed walkway clutching her 2-year-old daughter. Her older girl, 8, clung to the dangling walkway's railing. Wood said she managed to tread water until she reached a life preserver tossed from the ferry boat. Her older daughter was rescued and treated for wounds to her hand, said Wood, who had an injured shoulder. 'I'm shaking now just taking about it,' said Wood, another plaintiff. The lawsuit targets four private contractors hired to design and rebuild the ferry dock and walkway for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The project was finished in 2021. The walkway was fabricated by McIntosh County business Crescent Equipment Co. Its attorney, Clinton Fletcher, declined to comment. The project's general contractor, Virginia-based Centennial Contractors Enterprises, said by email that it doesn't comment on pending litigation. Architecture and engineering firms also named as defendants did not immediately comment. The lawsuit doesn't target the Department of Natural Resources or any other Georgia state agency. It says the department relied on its private contractors to ensure the walkway was safely built, which was 'beyond the scope of the DNR's internal expertise and qualifications.' The agency told The Associated Press last year that the walkway should have been able to support the weight of 320 people. About 40 people were standing on it when it snapped. 'There was supposed to be a certified professional engineer that signed off on that part of the project and that was neglected,' said Chadrick Mance, a Savannah attorney representing nine of the injured. Filed in Gwinnett County State Court in metro Atlanta, the lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for negligence, wrongful deaths and personal injuries. The cause of the collapse remains under investigation by the state officials, said Haley Chafin, a spokesperson for the Department of Natural Resources. State Attorney General Chris Carr also tapped a private engineering firm to perform an independent investigation. ___ Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. ___ Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon.
Canada Standard
5 days ago
- Canada Standard
D-day veterans return to Normandy 81 years later to honor freedom
OMAHA BEACH, France: Eighty-one years after the D-Day landings, a small group of World War II veterans has returned to the beaches of Normandy, France. Most are over 100 years old now, but they came back with the same message they fought for during the war: freedom must always be protected. Nearly two dozen veterans who served in Europe and the Pacific are visiting Normandy to honor their fallen comrades. They are being warmly welcomed, especially by local French families and schoolchildren. The June 6, 1944, D-Day landings marked the start of the Allied liberation of France, and Normandy was the first part of mainland Europe to be freed. The beaches, once filled with violence and death, are now places of remembrance. "Bloody Omaha," one of the hardest-fought beaches, is significant. The sacrifice of the Allied soldiers helped build lasting friendships between Europe, the U.S., and Canada. French families treasure stories of D-Day, passing them down through generations. Veterans are greeted with hugs, photos, autographs, and the words "Merci!" from grateful locals. Even the youngest children are excited to meet them. For example, 101-year-old Arlester Brown amazed French schoolchildren by telling them his age. During the war, as a Black soldier in a segregated U.S. Army, he served in a laundry unit that followed Allied troops through Europe. Jack Stowe, now 98, joined the Navy at just 15 after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He still receives kind letters from French children he met on past visits. "The people here are so good to us," he said. "They want their kids to know us and hear our stories. These stories will live on." At the Normandy American Cemetery, where nearly 9,400 U.S. soldiers are buried, visitors rub beach sand into the engraved names on the white gravestones so they're easier to read. Veteran Wally King, 101, paid tribute at the grave of Henry Shurlds Jr., a fellow pilot who died in 1944. Although King didn't know him personally, he felt a strong connection. King himself was shot down and seriously burned on his final mission just weeks before the war ended. King said many veterans stayed silent after the war. "They didn't talk about it with their families. In some ways, that's good—war is full of pain. But we must remember and honor the sacrifice." Each year, fewer veterans are able to return. The Best Defense Foundation, which organizes these trips, brought 50 veterans last year for the 80th anniversary. This year, there are just 23. Among them is 104-year-old nurse Betty Huffman-Rosevear, the only woman in the group. Also returning is 102-year-old Jake Larson, known as "Papa Jake" on TikTok. He landed on Omaha Beach in 1944 under heavy fire and survived. Now, with 1.2 million followers, he shares his story with the world. "We are the lucky ones," Larson said. "They didn't make it home. We are their family now. It's our duty to honor them." As WWII's survivors disappear, the responsibility is falling on the next generations that owe them the debt of freedom. "This will probably be the last Normandy return when you see the condition of some of us old guys," King said. "I hope I'm wrong."
