Bakersfield News Observer 5.17.23

President Biden’s Full Howard University Commencement Address

Tiger Woods’

One!Take News Observer

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Brittney Griner Plays in First WNBA Game Since Detainment

PHOENIX (AP) – Brittney Griner strolled down the sideline about 1 1/2 hours before the Phoenix Mercury played Friday night, giving hugs and high-fiving her teammates, coaches and opposing players. Then it was a little stretching, a little shooting and a little agility work to prepare for a basketball game.

Just like old times.

“I’m grateful to be here, that’s for sure,” Griner said. “I’m not going to take a day for granted.’’

Griner returned to game action for the first time since a nearly 10-month detainment in Russia on drugrelated charges ended with a prisoner swap in December. The seven-time All-Star, who missed the entire 2022 season because of the detainment, finished with 10 points and three rebounds in a WNBA preseason game against the Los Angeles Sparks.

The 6-foot-9 Griner looked good, especially considering the long layoff, casually throwing down a one-handed dunk during warmups. She stood with her teammates while the national anthem was played and received a loud ovation from the home crowd when she was introduced before tipoff.

“Hearing the national anthem, it definitely hit different,” Griner said. “It’s like when you go for the Olympics, you’re sitting there, about to get gold put on your neck, the flags are going up and the anthem is playing, it just hits different.

‘’Being here today ... it means a lot.”

May Budget Revision

Gov. Gavin Newsom Friday May 12 during the May Revise.

Antonio Ray Harvey

California Black Media

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom released the “May Revision” of his Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-24 budget proposal that he submitted in January.

Despite a $32 billion projected shortfall, the $306.5 billion spending plan protects key investments in priorities that matter most to Californians, Newsom said. Education, health care, housing and homelessness, public safety, and climate action are among key focus areas.

“In partnership with the Legislature, we have made deep investments in California and its future – transformative efforts that will benefit generations of Californians, and that this budget will continue to guide as we navigate near-term ups and downs in revenue,” Newsom said during a two-hour news conference held near the State Capitol on May 13.

“As we prepare for more risk and uncertainties ahead, it’s critical that we keep the state on a solid fiscal footing to protect Californians and our progress in remaking the future of our state,” he continued.

Newsom says he does not foresee a recession but recognizes increased risks to the budget since the first month of 2023.

The plan reflects $37.2 billion in total budgetary reserves, including $22.3 billion in the Budget Stabilization Account. Highlights include:

Billions to continue implementing expansion of health care access and reduce costs measures for programs such as CalAIM to transform Medi-Cal, extending health care to low-income Californians of all ages regardless of immigration status.

Maintains billions of dollars for aid to local governments, encampment resolution grants, and more to address homelessness.

Adopted a legally binding goal that local governments must plan to build approximately 2.5 million new homes by 2030, and

1 million of these units must be affordable housing.

Advancing a $48 billion multi-year commitment to implement its world-leading agenda to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, protect communities from harmful oil drilling, deliver 90% clean electricity by 2035, and more.

Investing $1.6 billion for all students, regardless of income, to access two free school meals per day – up to 12 million meals per day statewide.

“With the May Revision, the Governor is again putting money where his mouth is -- and where California needs to be -investing in bold and transformative proposals to advance equity and address pertinent disparities in Black communities and in the classroom,” said Assembymember Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City), chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC).

Wilson applauded the “accountability measures” in the budget that “leverage the entire $80 billion in Local Control Funding Formula to focus on low-performing student groups and schools, and require districts to publicly identify and address where Black student performance is low, while providing additional services at high-need schools using the complementary $300 million Equity Multiplier are what the Black Caucus has been fighting for – for years.

During the press conference, Newsom also addressed repreparations payments, a potential budget issue that could come to the forefront soon. The California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans will submit its final report to the legislature on June 29 in Sacramento. Among other proposals, the nine-member panel recommends a formal apology from the state of California that lessens the gravity of circumstances that historically caused hardships for the Black community.

In addition, the panel suggests that descendants of slavery living in California should be entitled to receive up to $1.2 million in compensation.

Last week, reports surfaced that Newsom said he would not “endorse” direct cash payments to Black Californians based on a statement he made last week about broadly advancing equity and inclusion. Newsom clarified his comment. “My posture is that let me receive the final report, continue to work with legislative leaders and the task force and assess where to go from there,” Newsom told California Black Media. “We put out a statement that was amplified, no small part by Sen. (Steven) Bradford and Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer and others. We look forward to reviewing the details of the task force’s recommendations.”

After July 1, the panel’s two-year charge will end, and state lawmakers will have the opportunity to consider the proposals for legislation. The final report is expected to be about 1,000 pages,

The final meeting for the Task Force is June 29 in Sacramento.

Responding to the Governor’s budget proposal, California Republicans criticized Newsom’s and California Democrats’ “reckless policies.”

“Today’s massive $32 billion budget deficit should be a wakeup call to all Democrats that after years of increased spending, they should have better results to point to than an outrageous cost of living, surging crime, rampant homelessness, a fentanyl crisis, failing schools and inadequate water storage,” said California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson. “Now is the time for smarter policies and responsible spending that California Republicans have long advocated for.”

Despite the looming deficit, Sen. Steve Bradford (D-Inglewood), CLBC vice-chair, remains confident.

“As a person who was here in the Legislature during the state’s worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, I know we have the skills, the know-how, and the resolve to address this budgetary shortfall and keep California moving forward,” he said.

Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard said the anthem and introductions were emotional for the entire team.

“We looked at each other and we just had chills,” Nygaard said. “We were here last year for all of it. I’m getting emotional about it now. Just to see her back out there - it’s an absolute miracle. It was amazing. It’s giving me chills again.”

Once the game started, the 32-year-old Griner immediately went to work, scoring on a turnaround jumper early in the first quarter. A few minutes later, she was fouled on another turnaround and sank both free throws. She even had a cameo with the medical staff in the third quarter. Teammate Sophie Cunningham went down with a knee injury and Griner helped carry her off the court so she didn’t have to put weight on her leg.

“When one of us goes down, we’re always right there,” Griner said. “That’s one thing about this teamwe’re always there for each other. We’ve got each others’ backs, big time.”

Griner’s return to the Mercury rekindles hope the franchise can make another run to the WNBA Finals. The former Baylor star helped the franchise win its third title in 2014 and has averaged 17.7 points and 7.6 rebounds during her nine-year career. She was runner-up for Most Valuable Player in 2021, when the Mercury also played in the Finals but lost to the Chicago Sky.

Griner said she was more rusty on the court than expected. But given the trials and emotions of the past 18 months, it was a pretty good night.

“Not where I want it to be, but on the right track,” Griner said. “We’re making the right moves.”

Phoenix opens the regular season in Los Angeles next Friday.

The extra exposure from being detained in Russia for having vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage has given Griner a platform to advocate for other Americans being detained abroad. She was already an LGBTQ+ activist since publicly coming out in 2013 and became the first openly gay athlete to be sponsored by Nike.

Griner announced in April that she is working with Bring Our Families Home, a campaign formed last year by the family members of American hostages and wrongful detainees held overseas. She said her team has been in contact with the family of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being detained in Russia on espionage charges.

Washington High Court Reverses Black Man’s Conviction

SEATTLE (AP) – The Washington Supreme Court has ruled that prosecutors discriminated against a Black man by striking the last Black person from his jury pool nearly two decades ago.

Theodore Rhone, 65, will get a new trial as the high court takes steps to rectify a national history of racism and the persistence of implicit bias in jury selection, The Seattle Times reported.

The unanimous decision was issued Thursday.

“They are keeping their promise and commitment to eliminating racial discrimination in the justice system,” Lise Ellner, Rhone’s attorney, said of the state Supreme Court justices.

Rhone argued before his 2005 trial that the state’s exclusion of the last Black potential juror without reason was discriminatory.

“I don’t mean to be facetious or disrespectful or a burden to the court,” he told the judge at the time. “However, I do want a jury of my peers. And I notice that (the prosecutor) took away the Black, African-American, man off the jury. I would like to have someone that represents my culture as well as your culture. To have this the way it is to me seems unfair to me.’’

A new jury pool was denied. Rhone was convicted in Pierce County Superior Court of robbery, unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and other charges.

Because of previous robbery-related convictions, Rhone received a life sentence without the possibility of parole under Washington’s three-strikes law. He appealed the case, which the state Supreme Court denied in 2010. However, things have changed since then, Justice Susan Owens wrote on behalf of the court in the ruling this week.

“It is undeniable that our understanding of the impact of implicit racial bias on jury selection has changed since our 2010 decision,” Owens wrote. Rhone, speaking from the Stafford Creek Corrections Center on Thursday, told the newspaper the decision means a fresh start.

Edward Henderson

California Black Media

On May 11, the Essie Justice Group (Essie), along with Bay Area leaders, community organizations, and advocates gathered at the Alameda County Superior Courthouse in Oakland to call attention to the damage inflicted on families and communities by the mass incarceration of Black women over generations. The event was part of the annual National Bail Out Campaign (NBO), #FreeBlackMamas.

President Biden’s Full Howard University Commencement Address

NNPA Newswire

You are here with your heart and through the heartache, through blood, sweat, and tears of everything that’s came before, for everything yet to come. You are here at a new moment of hope and possibilities.

But, graduates, before we begin, as mentioned many times, tomorrow is Mother’s Day. Stand for your mothers and grandmothers. Stand and thank them.

Where I come from, moms rule.

To my friend – and he is my friend – Congressman Jim Clyburn, the thing that I admire most about you, Jim, is your absolute integrity in everything you do – in everything you do. This is a man of honor.

I attended South Carolina State University’s commencement as Jim received his degree, he earned 60 years ago but never got a chance to receive it in person.

Jim, it’s an honor to join you here today and receive an honorary degree from this great university.

And it’s truly special – special to join fellow honorees. Prime Minister Rowley, I didn’t know you were so talented. I just thought you were foreign policies – you know, Latin American guy. I – you know, I – we got to talk.

All kidding aside, thank you for being a strong partner in the Caribbean and for addressing climate change and supporting democracies across the Western Hemisphere.

I’m also honored that – there’s a person here today, Dr. Tony Allen. He is President of my home state [H]BCU, Delaware State University, where I got politically started.

I was fortunate to have Tony as a Senate staffer for a long time. Then he got his PhD, had a distinguished career in business, and became president of an HBCU.

Now Tony chairs my White House Board of Advisors on HBCUs, which is designed to support and advance HBCU excellence with a lot more money.

I’m also proud to say that we’re the first White House to formally convene where the real power is: the Divine

Nine. Oh, you all – you all think I’m kidding? Not a joke.

The Divine Nine not only has a seat at the table, we definitely hear you at the table. And there, first time ever, at the White House permanently.

So, folks, in 2023, I’m truly honored to be here at Howard.

Chartered 156 years ago by an act of Congress just after Emancipation and the Civil War. Founded – founded on a hilltop in Washington, D.C. The Mecca. The Mecca. Always promoting, excellence, leadership, and truth and service. It really has. And a proving ground for future leaders of science, medicine, education, business, faith, arts, entertainment, and public service.

Trailblazing intellectuals, lawyers, doctors. The first Black – I might say – Vice President of the United States of America. You can say that again.

Kamala sends her love. And she sent a clear message that today I have the privilege, as she points out, of speaking at the real H-U.

Now you realize that’s going to cost me at home.

This – there’s enormous pride in this university founded in the verses of the Howard anthem. And I quote, “Reared against the eastern sky, proudly there on hilltop high… There she stands for truth and right, sending forth her rays of light.” It matters. It matters. It matters.

We’re living through one of the most consequential moments in our history with fundamental questions at stake for our nation.

Who are we? What do we stand for? What do we believe? Who will we be? You’re going to help answer those questions.

Let me take you back to January of 2009. I stood in Wilmington, Delaware, on the train station of Amtrak, carrying my folder waiting to be picked up by a guy named Barack Obama.

The first Black man elected President of the United

States.

I was there to join him as Vice President on the way to the historic inauguration in Washington. A moment of extraordinary hope, but also, as I stood there – and this is the God’s truth – I couldn’t help think about another day I stood there.

I wasn’t much more than your age. I’d just got out of

law school.

I was a public – I had gone to work for a big firm, but my state – because when Dr. King was assassinated, parts of it were – my city – parts were burned to the ground. We had a very conservative governor. He stationed the National Guard on every corner with drawn bayonets for 10 months. I quit and became a public

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IRS Creating Software to ‘Shake up’ Tax Prep Business

By Stacy M. Brown

built a prototype system to let Americans file their tax returns digitally and

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According to a published report, the move amounts to government software that could shake up the tax-prep business.

The IRS and the U.S. Digital Service, a technology advisory arm of the White House, created the software.

A small group of taxpayers will have access through a trial program by January 2024, when the 2023 filing season starts, according to people who were briefed on the matter but asked to remain anonymous to talk about internal agency conversations.

The Inflation Reduction Act from last year, one of President Biden’s most critical congressional wins, gave the IRS $15 million to look into making a direct filing program.

The tax office reportedly asked the New America think tank, which leans to the left, to look into the issue and write a report due this week.

Currently, the IRS sends people who want to file for free to a group of companies offering free e-filing to taxpayers with incomes below a certain amount.

The Washington Post noted a report from the Government Accountability Office that said that even though 70% of taxpayers are eligible for these goods, less than 3% use them.

Industry giants Intuit TurboTax and H&R Block offer free goods that the IRS does not officially back for a smaller group of taxpayers.

IBIS World, a research company, says the paid tax preparation services market will be worth $14.4 billion this year.

A free filing system from the federal government could upset that market.

By most accounts, the method of using commercial programs for online filing has been good for both taxpayers and the government.

The IRS said approximately 9 of 10 individual tax returns were made digitally in 2022.

Additionally, years of study in the U.S. and Europe show that the U.S. voluntary tax compliance rate of 85.1% is among the highest of developed economies.

The percentage of tax filers who pay their federal taxes correctly each year also reportedly remains high.

But some experts say that the private-public partnership shows the IRS’s lack of technology.

The Inflation Reduction Act gave the IRS $80 billion over ten years to help it crack down on people with high incomes, improve services for taxpayers, and update its technology.

The Biden administration said that the IRS needs more money to catch tax cheats and help low- and middleincome Americans qualify for various tax credits.

When the IRS told Congress how it planned to spend that money in April, Commissioner Daniel Werfel said the agency would think about a “question-based electronic

companies try to be different from the IRS by offering premium services that include lawyers and accountants. Disclosures show that Intuit spent more than $1 million lobbying the House and Senate from January to March on topics like “tax system integrity” and “protecting intellectual property.”

service to prepare and file tax returns directly with the IRS.”

Through secure online portals, taxpayers could also ask for help from customer service agents under the plan.

This could cut into another way that tax prep

According to its disclosure papers, H&R Block spent $720,000 on lobbying for anti-poverty tax credits, “tax administration,” and “Internal Revenue Service funding” during the same period.

For Mother’s Day, Advocates Highlight the Mass Incarceration of Black Women

Continued from page A1

introducing the speakers, sharing her personal story, and leading the audience in the Essie chant ‘We come for ours, and when we come, we win.’

“I hold these bailouts close to my heart because I know what it means to be caged,” said McKay. “We believe in a future where our loved ones are free. What I know to be true, is that we are here because we are still buying our folks freedom, just like slavery days. Mass incarceration is the new slavery. We will continue to buy freedom until we abolish mass incarceration.”

Gina Clayton-Johnson, Executive Director of Essie, spoke passionately about the organization’s mission and shared some of the innovative ways Essie is changing bailout culture. For women who have lower incomes, affording bail is impossible when the median bail amount in California is $50,000, five times the national average. Under her watch, 473 mothers and care givers have been freed nationwide.

“We don’t allow the bail industry to see not one penny of this money that we raise,” said Clayton-Johnson. “We don’t get the discounted rate; we don’t get to pay the 10% that the bail industry lets you pay and then go into debt with them. We raise all the money, give it to the court to buy the person’s freedom.

Once that case is disposed of, we get that money back so we can continue to bail out more Black women.”

Clayton-Johnson highlighted the fact that when Back

women are released from prison, they can provide support to others who have been victims of the prison industrial complex.

“There are tens of thousands of people who come home from jails and prisons every single week. Where do you think they go? When people come home from prison they are most likely coming home to the arms of a Black woman. What we are here to say is free Black mamas and to remind you that Black women are the blueprint for re-entry.”

Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland) spoke about her commitment to the cause of freeing Black women.

“I am making sure our public defenders get funded. When we have a system that puts five dollars to the district attorney’s office and one dollar to the public defender’s office, that is broken,” she said. “Black mamas are going to jail because we’re criminalizing poverty. We need to ensure we are actually building pathways to work and rehousing when our mamas come back to us, when our brothers and sisters come back to us, they do not have any doubt they have a home to go to and can immediately provide for her family.”

Shaundrika Price, a beneficiary of an Essie bond and services, testified about how Essie has impacted her life. A mother of five children, Price was imprisoned, and her bail was set at $200,000. Unable to pay, Price remained in Lynwood Women’s Jail in Los Angeles for months as her trial continued to be pushed back.

“Every person I got to know at the women’s jail had mental health needs and trauma like I did,” said Price. “What people don’t understand is that many of us locked up in the system have not been convicted of a crime. Locking women and Black mamas up is not the answer.”

Brendon Woods, a public defender from Alameda County, was the last speaker. He gave a passionate speech about the injustices surrounding the bail industry.

“This criminal justice system is hellbent on caging Black mamas because they cannot afford to post their bail,” said Woods. “This has nothing to do with public safety. This is about wealth, a system built on money, power, privilege, and White supremacy.”

“California itself holds about 40,000 people a year in a cage and they haven’t been convicted of a crime,” Woods continued. “They are presumed innocent, and they are caged. What this means is that people cannot afford to buy their freedom, or they are coerced into a plea deal for their freedom. It should not be that way.”

For more information or to donate, visit the National Bailout Campaign.

President Joe Biden participates in a Howard University graduation ceremony at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, on May 13, 2023. (Mandel Ngan/ AFP/Getty Images)

Tiger Woods’ Lawyers Try to Stop Ex-girlfriend’s Lawsuit

By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press

Attorneys for golf superstar Tiger Woods are expected to argue Tuesday during a court hearing that his exgirlfriend's lawsuit against him should be halted because she signed a nondisclosure agreement requiring that any disagreements between them be settled in private by an arbitrator.

Erica Herman, 39, is suing Woods to get out of the agreement, saying she was the victim of his sexual harassment. She has also filed a separate $30 million illegal eviction lawsuit against the trust that owns his $54 million Florida mansion.

Herman, who managed Woods' Palm Beach County restaurant before and during the first years of their romantic relationship, argues that the nondisclosure agreement is unenforceable under a new federal law that says such contracts can be voided when sexual abuse or sexual harassment occurred. Her attorney, Benjamin Hodas, contends that Woods' alleged threat to fire her if she didn't sign the contract was harassment.

"A boss imposing different work conditions on his employee because of their sexual relationship is sexual harassment," Hodas said.

Woods' attorney, J.B. Murray, denies that the 47-yearold golfer ever sexually assaulted or harassed Herman, calling her accusations in court documents "utterly meritless." It is unknown if Woods will attend the hearing before Circuit Judge Elizabeth Metzger, the first in what could be a lengthy court battle.

In Herman's lawsuit against Woods, she wants Metzger to either void the nondisclosure agreement or at least give her guidance about what she can say publicly. For example, can she discuss events that happened before their agreement or after their breakup? What about information she learned about Woods from others? She is also arguing that the contract covers only her work relationship with Woods, not their personal matters.

In her unlawful eviction lawsuit against the trust, she is basing her $30 million claim on how much it would cost to rent a property like Woods' beachfront mansion north of Palm Beach for six years of residence she was allegedly promised by the golfer and then denied.

When Hodas filed her lawsuit against the trust in October, he checked a box on a standardized form saying the case did not involve sexual abuse. In Herman's March lawsuit against Woods, Hodas checked the box saying that case does involve abuse. Hodas has not explained the apparent discrepancy.

Before they dated, Woods hired Herman in 2014 to help develop and then operate the golfer's The Woods sports bar and restaurant in nearby Jupiter - but they do not agree

when their romantic relationship and cohabitation began.

Herman says in her court filings that their romantic relationship began in 2015 and that in late 2016 she moved into Woods' nearly 30,000-square-foot (2,800- squaremeter) mansion in the ritzy Hobe Sound community. She says that in 2017, Woods verbally promised she could live there at least 11 more years.

Woods, in his court documents, says their romantic relationship began in 2017, shortly before she moved in with him that August - about the time the nondisclosure agreement was signed. In March 2017, Woods had placed the mansion into the Jupiter Island Irrevocable Homestead Trust, an entity he created that has only himself and his two children as beneficiaries. Forbes Magazine estimates Woods' net worth at $1.1 billion.

Court documents filed by Woods' attorneys on Monday include an August 2017 email exchange between Herman and Christopher Hubman, the chief financial officer of Tiger Woods Ventures. Herman says she will sign the nondisclosure agreement, but expresses concern about how her romantic and professional lives are now intertwined.

"My only concern is if by chance TW does something that brings our relationship to an end, do I automatically (lose) my job?" she wrote. ''I don't have any problem with what's in the document because I wouldn't go public or use anything I know to hurt him or the kids but with my whole life in his hands now I would want to have some kind of control over my future in the business.

"If something happened 5-10 years down the road I don't want to be in my 40s, heartbroken and jobless," she wrote.

Herman says Woods pressured her to quit her job managing his restaurant in 2020, saying he wanted her to spend more time taking care of him and his children.

Herman says Woods evicted her through "trickery." She says Woods told her they were going on a weekend trip to the Bahamas, so she packed a small bag and he drove her to the airport, where they parked near a private plane.

But instead of boarding, Woods told Herman to talk to his lawyer and left, she says.

"Out of the blue," the lawyer told her the relationship was over and that she was being evicted, she says. She says she refused to sign another nondisclosure agreement the lawyer tried to force upon her.

When Woods' lawyers returned her personal belongings, they kept $40,000 in cash, "making scurrilous and defamatory allegations" about how she obtained it, she alleges.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Peacock will Exclusively Carry NFL Playoff Game in a First for Streaming Service

By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer

The NFL is taking another big step into streaming by putting one of its playoff games exclusively on a digital platform for the first time.

The league and NBCUniversal announced Monday that the Saturday night game on Wild Card weekend will be on Peacock.

The Peacock exclusive game on Jan. 13 would start at 8:15 or 8:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on NBC stations in the markets of the two teams. It will also be available on mobile devices through the NFL+ package. It will be preceded

by a late afternoon playoff game on NBC and Peacock that will kick off at 4:30 p.m. ET.

''Expanding the digital distribution of NFL content while maintaining wide reach for our games continues to be a key priority for the league, and bringing the excitement of an NFL playoff game exclusively to Peacock's streaming platform is the next step in that strategy,'' said Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president and chief operating officer of NFL Media.

The league has made forays into streaming games for nearly a decade, but has gone all in over the past couple seasons. Amazon Prime Video became the exclusive home of "Thursday Night Football" last season while ESPN has had one

international game per season on ESPN+ since 2021. Under the NFL's 11-year contract with NBCUniversal that began this season, Peacock has an exclusive regular-season game. That will be on Dec. 23 when the Buffalo Bills face the Los Angeles Chargers. The Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers matchup on NBC will precede that.

"We spent a lot of time with the NFL and had productive meetings about the proper positioning of that (Peacock) game," NBC Sports Chairman Pete Bevacqua said last week when the regular-season schedule was released. "We think that's going to be a great combination of using the power of NBC with that

late- afternoon game and driving that audience to Peacock for the regular-season exclusive game."

NBC will have three games during the first weekend of the postseason, marking the first time a network has had that many on a single playoff weekend.

NBC also has the primetime Sunday game on Jan. 14 while Fox and CBS will have the earlier contests. ESPN has the Monday night game to close the opening weekend on Jan. 15. This will be the third year that the NFL has played the wildcard games over three days.

Writers Strike Felt in Missing NBC Stars, Absence of Fox Schedule for TV Sales Pitches

By DAVID BAUDER

AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) - The impact of the Hollywood writers strike was felt as major television networks began their annual week of sales presentations to advertisers on Monday, with news personalities like Willie Geist and Stephanie Ruhle left to hawk comedies and dramas for NBC Universal.

Fox declined to announce a fall television schedule on Monday, citing uncertainties created by the strike.

Some 11,500 members of the Writers Guild for America, saying the rise of streaming has hurt their earning power, walked off the job two weeks after talks on a new contract broke down, and haven't returned to the negotiating table since.

Network late-night shows immediately shut down. Picketing writers targeting some of the few shows shooting episodes forced the shutdown, at least temporarily, of programs including Showtime's "Billions," "Severance" on Apple TV+ and the new Marvel show, "Daredevil: Born Again" on Disney+.

The network sales presentations, known as upfronts because TV executives use them to convince advertisers to lock in commercial spending months in advance, are major events on the television schedule. They opened with turmoil; writers picketed in front of Radio City Music Hall where NBC previewed programming it hoped viewers would be able to see.

Mark Lazarus, NBC Universal president of television and streaming, quickly acknowledged the uncertainties in speaking to the ad representatives.

"It may take some time, but I know we will eventually get through this," Lazarus said, "and the result will be a stronger foundation from which we can all move forward together."

Lazarus came to the stage following a song-and-dance routine by an animated bear, Ted, voiced by creator SMacFarlane. Following two movies, the "Ted" character is set to begin a series

on the Peacock streaming network.

The upfront presentations are generally known for star power attempting to woo advertisers, but entertainers were notably missing from NBC Universal's presentation. For example, the network and Peacock announced new series that will star Jon Cryer, Jesse L. Martin, Kaley Cuoco and Anthony Hopkins and none of them were there on Monday.

Instead, the new personalities were put in the odd position of pitching entertainment fare, like Geist highlighting programming around the upcoming 50th anniversary of "Saturday Night Live,'' while Ruhle and business journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin touted new dramas.

Entertainers and creators Amy Poehler, Dick Wolf and Simon Cowell each spoke in taped messages, which NBC said were recorded before the strike began.

Three musicians performed for the crowd, each of them with NBC ties. Reba McEntire was announced as a coach for an upcoming season of "The Voice," Grace Potter was a winner of a past edition and Nick Jonas is a former coach. Jonas noted the audience's cool reaction on a Monday morning.

"I know it's early," he said, "but y'all feel free to let loose a little bit."

Similarly absent entertainers, Fox leaned heavily on sports for its upfront presentation later Monday, beginning and ending with ex-football star Michael Strahan and wrapping up in barely an hour.

"No one has a crystal ball about the duration and impact of the strike," said Dan Harrison, executive vice president of program planning and content strategy. "Once we have a clearer view, we will announce our plans." Fox executives said that the pandemic offered practice in the need to be flexible when the content pipeline is suddenly shut down.

Legal Notices

President Biden’s Full Howard University Commencement Address

defender.

And I used to have to introduce my clients – no, that’s not so noble – I had to interview my clients down at the Wilmington train station when they were arrested.

On the east side – that’s where they’d be taken in the aftermath of the riots that burned Wilmington following his assassination.

In 2009, while waiting for Barack, I was both living history at the same time I was reliving it. A vivid demonstration: When it comes to race in America, hope doesn’t travel alone.

It’s shadowed by fear, by violence, and by hate.

But after the election and the re-election of the first Black American President, I had hoped that the fear of violence and hate was significantly losing ground.

After being – no longer being Vice President, I became a professor at the University of Pennsylvania for four years.

But in 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia, crazed neoNazis with angry faces came out of the fields with – literally with torches, carrying Nazi banners from the woods and the fields chanting the same antisemitic bile heard across Europe in the ‘30s.

Something that I never thought I would ever see in America.

Accompanied by Klansmen and white supremacists, emerging from dark rooms and remote fields and the anonymity of the Internet, confronting decent Americans of all backgrounds standing in their way, into the bright light of day.

And a young woman objecting to their presence was killed. And what did you hear? That famous quote. When asked about what happened, that famous quote. “There are very fine people on both sides.”

That’s when I knew – and I’m not joking – that’s when I knew I had to stay engaged and get back into public life. No, I – I don’t say it for that reason. I say it for the journey.

I don’t have to tell you that fearless progress towards justice often meets ferocious pushback from the oldest and most sinister of forces. That’s because hate never goes away.

I thought, when I graduated, we could defeat hate. But it never goes away. It only hides under the rocks. And when it’s given oxygen, it comes out from under that rock.

And that’s why we know this truth as well: Silence is complicity.

It cannot remain silent. We are living through this battle for the soul of the nation. And it is still a battle for the soul of the nation.

What is the soul of a nation? Well, I believe the soul is the breath, the life, the essence of who we are. The soul makes us, “us.”

The soul of America is what makes us unique among all nations. We’re the only country founded on an idea –not geography, not religion, not ethnicity, but an idea.

The sacred proposition rooted in Scripture and enshrined in the Declaration of Independence that we’re all created equal in the image of God and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives.

While we’ve never fully lived up to that promise, we never before fully walked away from it.

We know that American history has not always been a fairytale.

From the start, it’s been a constant push and pull for more than 240 years between the best of us, the American ideal that we’re all create equal – and the worst of us, the harsh reality that racism has long torn us apart.

It’s a battle that’s never really over.

But on the best days, enough of us have the guts and the hearts to st- – to stand up for the best in us.

To choose love over hate, unity over disunion, progress over retreat. To stand up against the poison of white supremacy, as I did in my Inaugural Address – to single it out as the most dangerous terrorist threat to our homeland is white supremacy. And I’m not saying this because I’m at a Black HBCU. I say it wherever I go.

To stand up for truth over lies – lies told for power

and profit.

To confront the ongoing assault to subvert our elections and suppress our right to vote. That assault came just as you cast your first ballots in ‘20 and ‘22.

Record turnouts. You delivered historic progress.

I made it clear that America – Americans of all backgrounds have an obligation to call out political violence that has been unleashed and emboldened.

As was mentioned already, bomb threats to this very university and HBCUs across the country.

To put democracy on the ballot.

To reject political extremism and reject political violence.

Protect fundamental rights and freedoms for women to choose and for transgender children to be free.

For affordable healthcare and housing.

For the right to raise your family and retire with dignity.

To stand with leaders of your generation who give voice to the people, demanding action on gun violence only to be expelled from state legislative bodies.

To stand against books being banned and Black history being erased.

I’m serious. Think about it.

To stand up for the best in us.

And today, I come here to Howard to continue the work to redeem the soul of this nation, because it’s here where I see the future.

And I’m not – that’s not hyperbole.

We can finally resolve those ongoing questions about who we are as a nation. That puts strength of our diversity at the center of American life.

A future that celebrates and learns from history.

A future for all Americans. A future I see you leading. And I’m not, again, exaggerating. You are going to be leading it.

Again, let’s be clear: There are those who don’t see you and don’t want this future.

There are those who demonize and pit people against one another. And there are those who do anything and everything, no matter how desperate or immoral, to hold onto power. And that’s never going to be an easy battle.

But I know this: The oldest, most sinister forces may believe they’ll determine America’s future, but they are wrong. We will determine America’s future. You will determine America’s future. And that’s not hyperbole.

No graduating class gets to choose the world into which they graduate. Every class enters the history of a nation up to the point it has been written by others.

But few classes, once in every several generations, enter at a point in our history where it actually has a chance to change the trajectory of the country.

You face that inflection point today, and I know you will meet the moment. I – just think about the many ways you already have.

With your voices and votes, I was able to fill my commitment to put the first Black woman on the Supreme Court of the United States of America.

And, by the way, she’s brighter than the rest.

She is one bright woman.

Because of you, more Black women have been appointed to the federal appellate courts under – than under every other President in American history combined.

And, by the way, I mean it. I mean it. Because of you.

Because of you.

You turned out. You spoke up. You knew. You showed up, and the votes counted. And you made people say,

“Whoa, wait a minute.

What price will I pay if I don’t do the following?”

You feel the promise and the peril of climate change.

Because of you, we’re making the biggest investment ever in the history of the world in climate change.

Don’t ever think your voice doesn’t matter.

I’m keeping my promise that no one should be in jail merely because of using or possessing marijuana. Their records should be expunged – just expunged.

My student debt relief plan would help – tens of millions of people, especially those on Pell Grants.

Seventy percent of Black college students receive Pell Grants. Many of you, the savings would be significant and even wiping out student debt completely for some.

But – this new Republican Party is dead set against it, suing my administration to stop you from getting student debt relief.

The same opposition who received relief loans, I might add, to keep their businesses afloat during the pandemic –members of the Congress – worth thousands, even millions of dollars – most of which didn’t have to be paid back. Yet, they say it’s okay for them but not for you. I find it outrageous.

To reduce your debt service payments when you graduate, we’re also ensuring that no one – no one with an undergraduate loan today or in the future will have to pay more than 5 percent of their discretionary income to repay their loans, down from 10. And in 20 years, it’s gone.

Republican officials are fighting that as well. But I will always keep fighting for you. And many others will – and many in the Republican Party as well will fight for you.

But we also know there is more to do. Because of your power, we took the most significant law on gun violence –we passed it – the most significant law in 30 years.

But we will not give up. I got the Assault Weapons Ban passed 30 years ago, and we’re going to pass it again.

We must pass it. And there’s more to do on police reform and public safety.

During the State of the Union, I asked the rest of the country to imagine having to talk to their children and their families like your families had to talk to you.

It’s about your security. It’s about your dignity.

It’s demeaning and degrading and deadly when you just have to stand there and say, “When you’re stopped, turn the interior light on, put both hands on the wheel, don’t reach for your license.” What in the hell is going on in America?

No, think about it.

I ask all the parents of non-minority children to ask what they would say, what they would do.

I know you’re frustrated that there are so many elected officials who refuse to pass a law that will do something.

Kamala and I stood next to the family of George Floyd and civil rights leaders and law enforcement officials to sign the executive order I came up with requiring the key elements of the George Floyd bill be applied to federal law enforcement: banning chokeholds, restricting no-knock warrants, establishing a database for police misconduct, advancing effective and accountable community policing that builds public trust.

And we’ll keep fighting to pass the reforms nationwide.

Equal justice is a covenant we have with each other. It must not just be an ideal; it has to be a reality.

You’re leading the way on this and so much more.

That’s why Kamala and I are so committed to investing in you and HBCUs. HBCUs help produce 40 percent of Black engineers; 50 percent of Black lawyers; 70 percent of Black doctors and dentists; 80 percent of Black judges.

Look, we see HBCU excellence in every day, with staff at every level of the White House and the administration, because I decided when I was elected, I promised I was going to have my administration would look like America.

But we all know that HBCUs don’t have the same endowments and funding as other major colleges and universities.

For example, denying the opportunity to build and fund research labs that will lead to new technologies and good-paying jobs.

That’s why I asked, and we’ve invested $6 billion and counting in HBCUs, including to create new research and development labs that prepare students for jobs of the future in high-income fields, from cybersecurity, engineering, biochemistry, healthcare.

Standing here, I think the last time I came to Howard with President Frederick and others was in my final year as

Vice President to host the Cancer Moonshot on campus, because you are leading the way.

You’re the scientists, the doctors, the advocates who will bring — do big things like ending cancer as we know it and even curing some cancers, which we’re on our way of doing.

You’re the diplomats and global citizens making democracy work for people around the world. Lawyers defending our rights. Artists shaping our culture. Fearless journalists. This is real, though. You’re – this is what you’re doing. Fearless journalists and intellectuals pursuing the truth and challenging convention.

You’re the leaders of tomorrow, but it’s coming on you really quickly.

Because of you, I see a future we can finally move away from the narrowed and cramped view that the promise of America is a zero-sum game: “If you succeed, I fail.” “If you get ahead, I fall behind.”

And maybe worst of all, “If I can’t hold you down, I can’t lift myself up.”

Instead of what it should be, “If you do well, we all do well.”

That’s what I see in you. That’s what I see in America. And more Americans are – a future of possibilities for all Americans.

Look, no matter – that future – what it holds, my sincere hope is that each of you find a sweet spot between happiness, success, and ambition.

That – a good life. A life of purpose.

Because here’s the thing: You don’t know where or what fate will bring you or when. You just have to keep going.

You have to just keep the faith. You have to just get up.

And you can find the balance between ambition and happiness and success – that good life of purpose, of family, and, as you know here at Howard, of excellence, leadership, and truth and service.

There is no quit in you. There is no quit in America.

So, let me close with this. In our lives and in the life of the nation, we know that fear can shadow hope. But it’s also true that hope can defeat fear.

In January of 2021, I stood at the U.S. Capitol to be inaugurated as President of the United States. Just days before, on that very spot, a violent insurrection took place. A dagger at the throat of democracy. For the first time in our history, an attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power in this country.

And they failed. Our democracy held. Again, hope prevailed.

And this time, I was standing with a Black woman about to take a two-mile procession down Pennsylvania Avenue as President and Vice President of the United States of America.

And who was marching alongside her? The Howard University Marching Band in lockstep and solidarity. You were.

I give you my word as a Biden: Class of 2023, you’re the reason I’m so optimistic about the future.

And I give you my word, I really mean it. You’re part of the most gifted, tolerant, talented, best-educated generation in American history.

That’s a fact.

And it’s your generation, more than anyone else’s, who will answer the questions for America: Who are we? What do we stand for? What do you believe? What do we believe? What do we want to be?

I’m not saying you have to share this burden all on your own.

The task at hand ahead is the work of all of us.

But what I am saying is: You represent the best of us. And that’s the God’s truth. You represent the best of us.

Your generation will not be ignored, will not be shunned, will not be silenced.

So, on the hilltop high, keep standing for truth and right, and send your rays of light.

Congratulations to you all. We need you. God bless you. And may God protect our troops.

Continued from page A2

California Black Media Political Playback: News You Might Have Missed

Tanu Henry and Maxim Elramsisy

California Black Media

Your roundup of stories you might have missed last week.

Groundbreaking Latina Politician Gloria Molina (May 31, 1948 – May 14, 2023) Passes

Gloria Molina, the first Latina to serve become a member of the California Assembly and on the first to serve on the L.A. City Council and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors has died of terminal cancer. She was 74.

“It is with heavy hearts our family announces Gloria’s passing this evening,” said Molina’s daughter Valentina Martinez in a statement. “She passed away at her home in Mt. Washington, surrounded by family.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass paid tribute to Molina.

“Gloria Molina was a force for unapologetic good and transformational change in Los Angeles,” wrote Bass in a statement. “As an organizer, a City Councilwoman, a County Supervisor and State Assemblywoman, Supervisor Molina advocated for those who did not have a voice in government through her pioneering environmental justice work, her role as a fiscal watchdog, and her advocacy for public health.

Bass said Molina “shaped Los Angeles in a lasting way while paving the way for future generations of leaders.”

“As the first woman mayor of Los Angeles, I know I stand on Supervisor Molina’s shoulders,” Bass acknowledged.

Governor Appoints 16-Member Advisory Council to Aid San Quentin Overhaul

California’s oldest and largest prison, San Quentin State Prison, is being transformed into an education and rehabilitation center as the state rethinks its criminal justice system.  Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the formation of an advisory council “tasked with assisting the administration in delivering on the Governor’s announcement to transform San Quentin State prison by 2025 into a one-of a kind rehabilitation center focused on improving public safety through rehabilitation and education via a scalable “California Model” that can be utilized across the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR),” according to a press release from the Governor’s office.

“In order to transform San Quentin into the nation’s most innovative rehabilitation facility focused on building a brighter and safer future, we need a deep and diverse bench of expertise. That’s exactly what the members of this Advisory Council deliver,” Newsom said.

The Council includes criminal justice reform advocates, victims’ rights groups, correctional officers, educators, legal scholars, and medical experts. Several formerly incarcerated individuals are on the council, which is chaired by Dr. Brie Williams, San Quentin Warden Ronald Broomfield, and Amity Foundation President and CEO Doug Bond.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg was named the Governors Lead Advisor, making him the lead liaison between the council and the Governor’s Office.

The other members are: Scott Budnick, founder of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition;  Neil Flood, state vice president for the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn.;  Tinisch Hollins, executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice;  Katie James, chief of the Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Services;  Terah Lawyer-Harper, executive director of Creating Restorative Opportunities and Programs;  Kenyatta Leal, executive director of the Next Chapter Project;  Jody Lewen, president of Mount Tamalpais College;  Sam Lewis, executive director of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition;  Billie Mizell, founder of Acting with Compassion and Truth;  Jonathan Moscone executive director of the California Arts Council;  Mimi Silbert, president of Delancey Street;  James Michael Myatt, retired US Marine Corps Major General;  Alison Pachynski, chief medical executive at San Quentin State Prison;  Chris Redlitz, executive director of The Last Mile;  Michael Romano, director of the Three Strikes Project at Stanford University;  Jesse Vasquez, executive director of the Pollen Initiative.  Conservationist Group Wants More Blacks to Enjoy Great Outdoors

The 40 Acre Conservation League is working to acquire and conserve natural working lands towards greater human connection to nature for underrepresented groups.

Last week, the group held a meeting and reception in Sacramento and presented an award to Ernest Bufford, who owns a ranch located on 900-plus acres of land near

Walker’s Basin in Kern County, according to ABC News 23.

Last year, the state awarded the non-profit a $3 million grant to ensure Black and other underrepresented communities have access to the great outdoors without fear. The group’s founder Jade Stevens said she and other like-minded conservationists want to remove the social and historical barriers that prevent some African Americans from enjoying outdoor activities like, fishing, hiking, bird watching etc.

Gov. Newsom Honors Peace Officers

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke at the California Peace Officers Memorial ceremony held on the grounds of the California State Capitol. Officers from around the state showed up at the solemn ceremony to pay tribute to their colleagues who died in the line of duty.

“It requires a certain kind of character, a certain kind of bravery to be a peace officer,” Newsom said at the ceremony. “There is no California without courageous Californians determined to serve and protect.”

Attorney General Rob Bonta to Investigate Antioch’s Sheriff’s Department

Last week, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that the California Department of Justice is investigating the Antioch Sheriff’s Department. The probe was prompted by allegations of “discriminatory misconduct” and racist and homophobic text messages involving about 44 officers, nearly half of the department.

“It is our job to protect and serve all of our communities,” said Bonta. “Police departments are on the front lines of that fight every day as they work to safeguard the people of our state.”

“Where there are allegations of potentially pervasive bias or discrimination, it can undermine the trust that is critical for public safety and our justice system,” Bonta added. “It is our responsibility to ensure that we establish a culture of accountability, professionalism, and zero tolerance for hateful or racist behavior, on or off duty.”

California Commission on Aging Wants More Representation

Last week, the California Commission on Aging met in Los Angeles.

The group advocates for aging adults and advises Gov. Newsom and the Legislature on issues facing aging Californians. During the meeting, they discussed legislation it is sponsoring, including Assembly Bill (AB) 820, a bill that would “increase the representation of older adults on seven state boards, commissions, and advisory committees.”

AB 820 has been referred from the California Assembly to the State Senate, where it is being reviewed by the Committee on Rules.

PPIC Report: California Is Getting Even More Democratic

In a report titled, “The Dynamics of Party Registration in California,” the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) is reporting that the number of Democrats continue to increase in the Golden State.

According to the report, “between the 2012 and 2020 presidential elections, the registered population grew about 20% -- roughly twice as fast as the voting-eligible population” in California.

Of that number, 4.2 million new Democrats registered, 3.5 million signed up as some other party or No Party Preference and 1.8 million new registrants were Republican.

Endorsements – Rep. Barbara Lee and Reggie Jones Sawyer Last week, the California Assembly Progressive Caucus announced that it is backing Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles) in his run for L.A. City Council.

“The California Legislative Progressive Caucus is thrilled to announce our support for our Co- Founder Reggie Jones-Sawyer’s campaign for Los Angeles City Council,” the group wrote in a statement. “Throughout his career, from his time as a labor organizer to his tenure in the State Assembly, Reggie has been an unrelenting, pioneering champion on the most critical issues facing California.”

Stacy Abrams, a former Georgia gubernatorial candidate, voting rights advocate and renowned Democratic Party figure, endorsed U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12) in her campaign to succeed Sen. Dianne Feinstein who is not seeking reelection.

“Barbara Lee is the leader California and the nation need right now in the U.S. Senate,” said Abrams said. “I am proud to endorse her for the U.S. Senate.”

Jade Stevens, board president and Ernest Bufford (Courtesy Photo)

Standing back row: Loren Taylor, Robynne Rose-Haymer, Tasha Henneman (pink jacket) Kevin Daniel, Nina Moore(green jacket), Carolyn Veal Hunter, Charles Thomas, Russell Lowery, Deja Pinkey, Delvon Hoggs, Jade Stevens, Ernest Bufford, Tamara Rasberry Harris, Seated: Langstyn Williams, Roxanne Bufford (CBM Staff Photo)

IRS Admits Targeting Black Taxpayers For Audits

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel has acknowledged what many

appointment, he met with an IRS team that had already studied the issue of race discrimination in audits.

Werfel acknowledged the disparity in a letter this week in which he responded to a request for information about the “apparent racial disparity” in selecting tax returns for audit, along with a plan to address the issue.

have known for some time: Black taxpayers

face an

IRS audit exponentially more than other groups.

Werfel acknowledged the disparity in a letter this week in which he responded to a request for information about the “apparent racial disparity” in selecting tax returns for audit, along with a plan to address the issue.

“Let me start by stressing that the IRS is committed to enforcing tax laws in a fair and impartial manner,” Werfel said in the letter addressed to the U.S. Senate.

“When evidence of unfair treatment is presented, we must take immediate action to address it. It is also important to reiterate that we do not and will not consider race as part of our case selection and audit processes.”

He continued:

“Nevertheless, a recent study estimated, using imputed race values, that Black taxpayers are audited at three to five times the rate of non-Black taxpayers.

“The research further suggests that most of this disparity is driven by differences in correspondence audit rates among taxpayers claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

“We are deeply concerned by these findings and committed to doing the work to understand and address any disparate impact of the actions we take.”

Werfel noted that as soon as Congress confirmed his

He noted that the research has continued as authorities try to pinpoint what drives the disparity and how to fix the issue.

Researchers discovered that Black taxpayers are five times more likely to face an audit when filing federal returns than any other race.

When President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS received $80 billion, which the agency pledged to use to determine a better system to eliminate such discrimination.

“Back in March, my colleagues and I raised alarms with the new IRS boss about Black taxpayers being over-audited, and today he confirmed our suspicions,” tweeted Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.).

“The IRS is making strides, but extra audits of Black Americans are disgraceful and must end.”

Werfel promised that the IRS would accelerate an existing research effort to detect and ensure compliance among “ghost preparers,” individuals who are paid to prepare returns for others but do not identify themselves to the IRS.

“Initial evidence confirms that unscrupulous and ghost preparers disproportionately prepare returns in minority communities,” Werfel noted.

“We are making broad efforts to advance our commitment to fair and equitable tax administration and evaluating the best ways to address bias within our audit program.”

Study Reveals Staggering Toll of Being Black in America:

1.6M Excess Deaths Over 22 Years

By Liz Szabo

California

Healthline

Research has long shown that Black people live sicker lives and die younger than white people.

Now a new study, published Tuesday in JAMA, casts the nation’s racial inequities in stark relief, finding that the higher mortality rate among Black Americans resulted in 1.63 million excess deaths relative to white Americans over more than two decades.

Because so many Black people die young — with many years of life ahead of them — their higher mortality rate from 1999 to 2020 resulted in a cumulative loss of more than 80 million years of life compared with the white population, the study showed.

Although the nation made progress in closing the gap between white and Black mortality rates from 1999 to 2011, that advance stalled from 2011 to 2019. In 2020, the enormous number of deaths from covid-19 — which hit Black Americans particularly hard — erased two decades of progress.

Authors of the study describe it as a call to action to improve the health of Black Americans, whose early deaths are fueled by higher rates of heart disease, cancer, and infant mortality.

“The study is hugely important for about 1.63 million reasons,” said Herman Taylor, an author of the study and director of the cardiovascular research institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine.

“Real lives are being lost. Real families are missing parents and grandparents,” Taylor said. “Babies and their mothers are dying. We have been screaming this message for decades.”

High mortality rates among Black people have less to do with genetics than with the country’s long history of discrimination, which has undermined educational, housing, and job opportunities for generations of Black people, said Clyde Yancy, an author of the study and chief of cardiology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

Black neighborhoods that were redlined in the 1930s — designated too “high risk” for mortgages and other investments — remain poorer and sicker today, Yancy said. Formerly redlined ZIP codes also had higher rates of covid infection and death. “It’s very clear that we have an uneven distribution of health,” Yancy said. “We’re talking about the freedom to be healthy.”

A companion study estimates that racial and ethnic inequities cost the U.S. at least $421 billion in 2018, based on medical expenses, lost productivity, and premature death.

In 2021, non-Hispanic white Americans had a life expectancy at birth of 76 years, while non-Hispanic Black Americans could expect to live only to 71. Much of that disparity is explained by the fact that non-Hispanic Black newborns are 2½ times as likely to die before their 1st birthdays as non-Hispanic

whites. Non-Hispanic Black mothers are more than 3 times as likely as non-Hispanic white mothers to die from a pregnancyrelated complication. (Hispanic people can be of any race or combination of races.)

Racial disparities in health are so entrenched that even education and wealth don’t fully erase them, said Tonia Branche, a neonatal-perinatal medicine fellow at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago who was not involved in the JAMA study.

Black women with a college degree are more likely to die from pregnancy complications than white women without a high school diploma. Although researchers can’t fully explain

this disparity, Branche said it’s possible that stress, including from systemic racism, takes a greater toll on the health of Black mothers than previously recognized.

Death creates ripples of grief throughout communities. Research has found that every death leaves an average of nine people in mourning. Black people shoulder a great burden of grief, which can undermine their mental and physical health, said Khaliah Johnson, chief of pediatric palliative care at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Given the high mortality rates throughout the life span, Black people are more likely than white people to be grieving the

death of a close family member at any point in their lives.

“We as Black people all have some legacy of unjust, unwarranted loss and death that compounds with each new loss,” said Johnson, who was not involved with the new study. “It affects not only how we move through the world, but how we live in relationship with others and how we endure future losses.”

Johnson’s parents lost two sons — one who died a few days after birth and another who died as a toddler. In an essay published last year, Johnson recalled, “My parents asked themselves on numerous occasions, ‘Would the outcomes for our sons have been different, might they have received different care and lived, had they not been Black?’”

Johnson said she hopes the new study gives people greater understanding of all that’s lost when Black people die prematurely. “When we lose these lives young, when we lose that potential, that has an impact on all of society,” she said.

And in the Black community, “our pain is real and deep and profound, and it deserves attention and validation,” Johnson said. “It often feels like people just pass it over, telling you to stop complaining. But the expectation can’t be that we just endure these things and bounce back.”

Teleah Scott-Moore said she struggles with the death of her 16-year-old son, Timothy, an athlete who hoped to attend Boston College and study sports medicine. He died of sudden cardiac arrest in 2011, a rare condition that kills about 100 young athletes a year. Research shows that an underlying heart condition that can lead to sudden cardiac death, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, often goes unrecognized in Black patients.

Scott-Moore still wonders if she should have recognized warning signs. She also has blamed herself for failing to protect her two younger sons, who found Timothy’s body after he collapsed.

At times, Scott-Moore said, she wanted to give up.

Instead, she said, the family created a foundation to promote education and health screenings to prevent such deaths. She hears from families all over the world, and supporting them has helped heal her pain.

“My grief comes back in waves, it comes back when I least expect it,” said Scott-Moore, of Baltimore County, Maryland. “Life goes on, but it’s a pain that never goes away.”

This article was produced by KFF Health News, formerly known as Kaiser Health News (KHN), a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.  KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

Excess Mortality and Years of Potential Life Lost Among the Black Population in the US from 1999-2020

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

A new study shows that after some progress, the number of deaths and years of possible life lost among America’s Black population stopped going down and then started going up again.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) said their results show that new ways of doing things are needed.

JAMA looked at statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which showed that when the coronavirus pandemic hit the world in 2020, the number of deaths and years of potential life lost went up.

Compared to white people, 1.63 million more Black people died than they should have.

Experts said that’s the equivalent of 80 million years of potential life during the study period, which took place from 1999 to 2020.

“After a period of progress in reducing disparities, improvements stopped, and differences between the Black population and the white population got worse in 2020,” JAMA experts wrote. Because of the pandemic, experts stated that years of growth had ended.

They said the pandemic affected Black Americans more than other groups.

Herman Taylor, one of the study’s authors and head of the cardiovascular research institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine, said, “The study is very important for about 1.63 million reasons.”

“Real lives are being lost. Real families are missing parents and grandparents,” Taylor declared.

“Babies and their mothers are dying. We have been screaming this message for decades.”

Clyde Yancy, an author of the study and chief of cardiology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, told reporters that high death rates among Black people have less to do with their genes.

However, it has more to do with the country’s long history of discrimination, which has hurt generations of Black people’s chances of getting an education, a good place to live, and a good job.

Yancy said that black areas redlined in the 1930s, meaning that mortgages and other investments were too “high risk” for them, are still poorer and sicker today.

Yancy remarked that there were also more Covid infections and deaths in ZIP codes that used to be redlined.

“It’s very clear that we have an uneven distribution of health,” Yancy said. “We’re talking about the freedom to be healthy.”

In 2021, non-Hispanic white Americans could expect to live to 76 years old, but non-Hispanic Black Americans could only hope to live to 71 years old.

A big reason for this difference is another study that showed that non-Hispanic Black babies are 2.5 times more likely to die before their first birthday than non-Hispanic white babies.

Non-Hispanic Black mothers are more than three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related problem than nonHispanic white moms.

(Rubberball Productions / Getty Images)

In 2021, non-Hispanic white Americans could expect to live to 76 years old, but non-Hispanic Black Americans could only hope to live to 71 years old.

Grassroots Organizations Request $100 million to Invest in Black California

Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media

A coalition of movement-based organizations from various parts of California converged on the grounds of the State Capitol in Sacramento to send a message: Black Californians need financial resources to overcome setbacks caused by centuries of system and institutional racism.

The coalition, which included members of the California Black Freedom Fund, the Black Equity Collective, California Black Power Network, and LIVEFREE California called for $100 million over five years to strengthen the relationship between the public sector and philanthropy groups serving Black communities across the state.

The group delivered their message May 10, two days before Gov. Gavin Newsom presented the May Revision of his 2023-24 budget, and five days after the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans finalized its final report, which will be submitted to the Legislature on June 29.

During the rally, Kaci Patterson, who represents the Black Equity Collective (BEC), said grassroots organizations “are our

communities’ first responders.”

“When we can go from disposable one day to essential workers the next, we know that this state knows how much they need us,” Patterson said. “And we are here today to say fund us like you know you need us. This budget ask is a down payment toward the state investing in who it says it wants to be.”

The BEC is a network of funders and nonprofit leaders committed to investing in the long-term sustainability of Blackled organizations in Southern California. The members of the coalition arrived in Sacramento from Fresno, San Bernardino, Oakland, Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Stockton, Pomona, Riverside, Pasadena, San Jose, San Francisco, San Diego, Fontana, Long Beach and other cities.

“There is a history of systemic racism that our community and our state refuses to reckon with. Yet, when there is a crisis -- we can take the pandemic for example -- all of a sudden, they need our organizations,” said Marc Philpart, Executive Director of the Black Freedom Fund.

“They want us to outreach to our community, they want us to engage, they want to use us, they want to exploit us,” he continued. “And what we are saying is no more. We are demanding every legislator, the governor and all constitutional

officers to get behind our agenda.”

Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D-Riverside) joined the coalition at a news conference outside the State Capitol. Jackson, who was elected to office in November 2022, has a series of pending legislation that addresses inequality affecting Black communities. He supports the coalition’s efforts to secure funding.

“We are in a critical moment right now in our history as Black

people here in California where we have an opportunity to reignite and strengthen our organizations and our communities so that we can create better agencies, better power to deal with our own historic inequities,” Jackson said. “We’ve been waiting too long for our government to help. It’s time for us to go about the business as our ancestors did and create for ourselves our own solutions.”

Marc Philpart, executive director of California Black Freedom Fund, said the state every legislator and the governor of California should support the coalition’s efforts. May 10, 2023, in Sacramento, California. (CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey)

Tim Kornegay, director of LIVEFREE California, speaks at the news conference at the State Capitol on  May 10, 2023, in Sacramento, California. (CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey)

Kaci Patterson, founder of Los Angeles-based Black Equity Collective, represented grassroot organizations from across the state that demanded the state invest in a coalition that aims to build a healthy relationship between philanthropy groups and the public sector. May 10, 2023, Sacramento, California. (CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey)

California Fast Food Franchise Owners Say Proposed Law Would Kill Their Businesses

McKenzie Jackson

California Black Media

Nathan Carter wore numerous hats while working at McDonald’s restaurants. Eventually, he became the owner of several locations of the fast-food business in Los Angeles.

As a teenager, the Pasadena native prepared food, mopped floors, operated the register, repaired ice cream machines, and cleaned the playpens at McDonald’s locations owned by his father, Norman, a McDonald’s franchisee of 32 years.

The younger Carter enjoyed manning the drive-thru window.

“I loved having a complete shift without any errors in the drive-thru,” he recalled. “I learned and embraced it all.”

Carter worked in finance after graduating from college, but eventually returned to the golden arches business. It wasn’t McDonald’s mouth-watering sweet tea or tasty French fries that caused him to leave his cubicle though, says Carter. Instead, he missed interacting with people.

“I loved the fast pace, the comradery, and the getting to know — not just the people you are working with — but customers as well,” he stated. “I wanted to work alongside my father.”

In 2020, Carter became the owner of a McDonald’s location in Southeast Los Angeles. Currently, he owns three restaurants, while his father owns four. Together, the Carters employ at least 650 people at their McDonald’s restaurants, all located in Los Angeles County.

Carter, the son, is in the locations he owns daily.

“The environment is great,” he said. “We have great relationships and great pride in our employees. If they have any issues, they can come talk to me or my father.”

However, Carter and other owners of Golden State fast food locations like Arby’s, Chick-fil-A, Jack in the Box, and Subway have expressed concern that their hard work and the benefits of running their own profitable businesses could be impacted if Assembly Bill 1228 is passed by the California Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom signs it into law.

The bill, also known as the Fast Food Franchisor Responsibility Act, was authored by Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena). If passed, AB 1228 would require major fast-food businesses and franchisees to share all legal responsibility and liability for the franchisee’s workplace health and safety violations of California Labor Law.

“The bill would authorize enforcement of those

provisions against a franchisor, including administratively or by civil action, to the same extent that they may be enforced against the franchisee,” AB 1228’s text reads. “The bill would require that a franchisor has the opportunity to cure a violation after written notice, as prescribed, before civil action may be commenced. The bill would provide that a waiver of the bill’s provisions, or any agreement by a franchisee to indemnify its franchisor for liability, is contrary to public policy and is void and unenforceable.”

Currently, franchisees have control over operating decisions such as benefits, employee wages, hiring, scheduling, and workplace standards at their restaurants. Holden’s act would force national fast-food corporations to take control over these decisions at franchised locations, according to Stop the Attack on Local Restaurants, a coalition of 115 social justice advocates, restaurant owners, small business owners, and restaurant brands opposed to AB 1228.

Carter, a coalition member, called the bill an attack on franchisees’ rights.

“It takes away the ability to run our business,” he said. “This bill is a detriment to our relationship with our employees, the things we do in our community. If a bill like this passes, we won’t be able to do some of the things we love and are passionate about.”

Rick Callender, the President of the California Hawaii NAACP Conference, has noted that more than 30% of franchised businesses are run by people of color. AB 1228, Callender explained, would rob many Black franchisees, like the Carters, of their livelihoods.

“Legislators should reject this very bad bill,” he stated. “The NAACP won’t allow one of the strongholds for Black business ownership to be attacked in this fashion. AB 1228 will essentially take away Black people and other people of color’s right to operate their local restaurants independently and erasing much of the progress they’ve made to build economic equity and generational opportunity for their families and communities.”

When AB 1228 passed the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee on April 12, Holden, a former franchise owner, said the legislation makes it simpler for franchisees to pay, support, and protect their employees.

“We have the ability to do more for fast food employees by focusing on the relationship between franchisors and their franchisees,” he noted. “I believe many franchisees want to do right by the people that work for them but may not see it as possible under their franchisor’s terms

and conditions. This can help to provide some relief while protecting employees and businesses.”

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), an AB 1228 supporter, currently said parent fast food businesses are protected from having to pay damages for violations of employment law.

Holden introduced AB 1228 in February around the same time another bill he penned, AB 257, was successfully opposed by Stop the Attack on Local Restaurants and its supporters.

The provisions in AB 1228 were originally stripped out of AB 257 before Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it into law last September.

That bill was set to establish sector-wide minimum standards on wages, working hours, and other working

conditions. Opponents said the law would increase food costs and cause job losses in the fast-food industry. They gathered enough signatures to overturn the law and have a referendum on it placed to voters on the November 2024 ballot.

AB 1228 is scheduled to be reviewed during the Assembly’s Committee on Appropriations May 18 hearing. Holden is the committee’s chair.

Fast food corporations supply franchisees with food and equipment. Carter said that should be the extent of their relationship.

“The bill is something we all feel is not necessary,” he said. “We do things for our employees; we do things for our communities; and ultimately, we feel this bill is not needed.”

Malcolm X Talks Justice, Equity and Inclusion

10 Quotes:

Jaivon Grant

California Black Media Malcolm X, originally known as Malcolm Little, was born 98 years ago on May 19, 1925. He was a prominent activist and minister during the 1960s civil rights movement. His unapologetic and passionate advocacy for Black rights brought him national attention. However, some have criticized his rhetoric as being extremist and racist. Others explain that the assertive, Black nationalistic posture he took in his speeches was necessary for CivilRights-era America when discrimination and segregation were legal in many parts of the country and racism was routine in many aspects of life.

To that point, Malcolm X, who was assassinated in 1965 at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, spoke about what some considered his extremist viewpoints.

“I don’t believe in any form of unjustified extremism. But I believe that when a man is exercising extremism, a human being is exercising extremism, in defense of liberty for human beings, it’s no vice. And when one is moderate in the pursuit of justice for human beings, I say he’s a sinner,” he said.

In 1964, Malcolm X announced his separation from the Nation of Islam, changed his name again to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz and converted to Sunni Islam, the branch of the religion most Muslims around the world practice. After making a religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia and trips to Africa, Malcolm X began to preach less about America’s racist past and divisions and more about Pan Africanism and about the universality of principles like freedom, justice and human rights, especially as they concern people of African descent.

This week, as we celebrate what would have been Malcolm X’s 98th birthday on May 19, here are ten quotes that capture Malcolm X’s promotion of racial healing, tolerance and racial inclusion.

1. On self-love …

“There can be no Black-White unity until there is first some Black unity. We cannot think of uniting with others, until after we have first united among ourselves. We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves.”

2. On intermarriage … “It’s just one human being marrying another human being or one human being living around and with another human being.”

3. On Truth and Justice … “I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.”

4. On Peace and Freedom …

“You can’t separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.”

5. On Racial and Religious Unity … “During the past seven days of this holy pilgrimage, while undergoing the rituals of the hajj [pilgrimage], I have eaten from the same plate, drank from the same glass, slept

on the same bed or rug, while praying to the same God— not only with some of this earth’s most powerful kings, cabinet members, potentates and other forms of political and religious rulers —but also with fellow‐Muslims whose skin was the whitest of white, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, and whose hair was the blondest of blond—yet it was the first time in my life that I didn’t see them as ‘White’ men. I could look into their faces and see that these didn’t regard themselves as ‘White’”

6. On Love and Unity … We need more light about each other. Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, love creates patience and patience creates unity.

7. On Learning to Hate … “If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”

8. On Overcoming Hatred and Anger … “Hatred and anger are powerless when met with kindness.”

9. On Fairness and Justice … “You’re not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it.”

10. On Human Rights … “I believe in human beings, and that all human beings should be respected as such, regardless of their color.”

This California Black Media report was supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.

(Shutterstock Photo)