Barack Obama Offers Hope to Young People of Color; Disney World Uses Stormtroopers to Enforce Social Distancing and Monkeys Steal COVID-19 Samples Before Escaping a Lab in India.
During a virtual town hall on Wednesday, former President Barack Obama addressed systemic racism in the United States. Obama said that while the George Floyd protests and the reasons behind them are “difficult and scary and uncertain,” that they also represent “an incredible opportunity for people to be awakened to some of (the) underlying trends” of systemic racism.
“They offer an opportunity for us to work together to tackle them, to take them on, to change America and make it live up to its highest ideals,” said Obama. “Part of what’s made me so hopeful is the fact that so many young people have been galvanized and activated and motivated and mobilized. Because historically, so much of the progress that we’ve made in our society has been because of young people. ”
He had a special message for young people of color: “I want you to know that your lives matter. Your dreams matter.”
Related: The Obamas Making Special Appearance for 2020 Grads
Disney Springs in Orlando is taking a creative approach to encourage visitors to stay socially distanced. In a video taken by Attractions Magazine at Disney World’s shopping district, stormtroopers are shown playfully enforcing pandemic protection measures.
“Stay in your sector,” said one stormtrooper to another. Another stormtrooper said, “Yeah, I’m going to need you to move one male bantha’s length away, please.”
“Roger that!” said yet another.
The stormtroopers also remarked on guests who were following safety protocol. “Some nice face coverings down there. Probably nicer than these helmets,” they said.
“Hey, you! With the face-covering!” yelled one stormtrooper down to the crowd.
“They all have face coverings,” said another trooper.
“Well, we made them all look,” said the first. “And now they all know who’s in charge.”
The main Disney park remains closed and has plans to reopen in mid-July. In the meantime, Disney Springs started to reopen on May 20.
Related: Man, 34, Dies From Coronavirus After Visiting Disney
Sky News reported that “a gang of monkeys attacked a laboratory assistant and escaped with a batch of coronavirus blood test samples.”
One of the monkeys was later seen “in a tree chewing one of the sample collection kits,” reported the Times of India. No individual came into contact with the samples, according to the medical superintendent of the college in an interview with CNN.
The stolen samples were safely discarded and the area was sanitized. Luckily, the samples were intact so they do not believe there is a chance of the virus spreading thanks to this incident.
Next thing you know, monkeys are going to start seeking online psychology degrees.
Related: Walmart Shuts Down After COVID-19 Deaths
