Reclaiming faith during second Easter amid pandemic
For the second Easter, Christian faithful work through the challenges of holding on to strong faith as the COVID-19 Pandemic continues to take lives. “The more you press a Christian and the more they come out holding to scriptures the more they demonstrate their faith in GOD,” said Pastor Paul Cannings, Ph.D., founder of Houston’s Living Word Fellowship Church. His church has been on the front lines in the COVID-19 fight, including making the church a vaccination site for people who might not otherwise get one. “When people are in their niche, their environment and they come into a church, those things…even though they’re still concerned, those caution lights go down,” he said. “They begin to trust the GOD that they have a conscious relationship with.” See and hear more from Pastor Cannings on Houston Newsmakers Sunday morning at 10:30 and here on Houston Newsmakers EXTRA.
Cops vs kids to bridge trust gap
Former Houston city council member Dwight Boykins said there is a great need to bridge the gap of respect and trust between police and first responders and youth in the inner city. One solution? Basketball! “We will have a basketball tournament bridging the gap between first responders and inner city kids,” he said. “My goal is to bring in as many non-African American police officers to play against these kids.” HISD Police Chief Pedro Lopez says his department and others are on board because of the potential long term impact. “A lot of people talk about community policing and building trust but it’s only conversation,” Lopez said. “In order to build trust, you first have to have relationships and this is not just going to play basketball for one day. Our hope and our plan is to continue our relationships with these students and these kids.” In addition to basketball, there will be workshops for college and job opportunities as a foundation for continued relationships.
Hispanic buying power pumps billions into Houston and beyond
Laura Murillo, Ph.D. is the President and CEO of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and says Hispanic buying power cannot be denied, “We make up 42% of all small businesses with well over 100 thousand Hispanic owned businesses. Across the country Latina entrepreneurs are the fastest growing segment of entrepreneurs.” Murillo says there is still more work to do in the fight for diversity. “If you look at the data across the country, nationally only 15% of all corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies, only 15% include minorities. We must do better.”
More Information:
Pastor Paul Cannings, Ph.D., Founder, Living Word Fellowship Church
· Website: https://powerwalkministries.org
Dwight Boykins, “Changing 1 Life at a Time”
· Saturday April 10th, Various locations
· Registration Closed
Chief Pedro “Pete” Lopez, HISD Police
· Website: https://bit.ly/3fx15xL
· Twitter: @HoustonISD
· Laura Murillo, Ph.D., President & CEO Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
· Website: https://www.houstonhispanicchamber.com/assets/docs/dr_murillo_bio.pdf
· Website: https://www.houstonhispanicchamber.com/
· Twitter: @HispanicHouston