Florida A&M’s Mulbe Dillard IV Tops Final APGA Collegiate Ranking Page A10
60 Years Later, Freedom Riders Roll into Birmingham Page A2
News Observer Bakersfield
Volume 47 Number 39
Serving Kern County for Over 47 Years
Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California
Bishop T.D. Jakes Headlines Panel About Ending the Pandemic What the Church Needs to Know About COVID-19 Vaccines and Access
John W. Davis OW Reporter Bishop T.D. Jakes believes there’s power in faith, but it is time for action to end the COVID-19 pandemic, once and for all. “Trouble doesn’t last always but trauma holds on for a while… the church is needed now more than ever before,” said Jakes, who leads The Potter’s House church in Dallas and the T.D. Jakes Foundation. “Ministry helps with (COVID stress and trauma).” A diverse group of faith and community leaders met on May 20 for a virtual panel entitled, “Finishing the Race.” The central message discussed what the church needs to know about COVID-19 vaccines and access. The conversation focused on information and inspiration and also touched on the importance of vaccine education and what advocates can do to make communities of color healthier. “I think things have changed considerably (at the Potter’s House). We have gone from preaching to an empty room to a partially filled room,” said Jakes, before explaining how he’s planning to open up his church in stages to his congregation. Jakes headlined the panel along with notable guest speakers like award-winning gospel singer Kierra SheardKelly; Dr. Reed Tuckson, the founder of the Black Coalition Against COVID-19; and Dr. Marcela Nunez-Smith, the chair of the U.S. COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force. “I was that person that was on the fence,” said Kierra Sheard-Kelly. “I lost my grandmother to COVID.” a decision that’s health-conscious, not only your own health but the health of others,” said Bishop T.D. After talking to her grandfather, cousin, doctor, and “Make Jakes, who leads The Potter’s House church in Dallas and the T.D. Jakes Foundation. “Don’t politicize this.”
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(Photo: CBN.com)
Tulsa Massacre 100 Years Later
Quinci LeGardye California Black Media May 31-June 1, 2021, marks the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the deadliest acts of racial violence in American history. The Black community in Tulsa, known as the Greenwood District, which has been referred to as the “Black Wall Street,” was decimated by a heavily armed White mob, with as many as 300 unconfirmed deaths of Black residents and property losses totaling about $27 million in today’s dollars. The murder, the unlawfulness, the catastrophe, the immorality, the untold suffering borne by innocent people experienced during the race massacre is emblematic of the devastation and destruction that happened in countless majority-Black towns in American history. In 1921, Greenwood was a thriving neighborhood of about 10,000 residents, which included Black-owned homes, grocery stores, hotels, nightclubs, billiard halls, theaters, doctor’s offices and churches. The area also had a Black-owned-and-operated newspaper called the Tulsa
(Photo by: Athena Fernandez-Lester, Tulsa Native)
Star. The decimation of Black Wall Street was set in motion after Dick Rowland, a 19-year-old Black man was accused of sexually assaulting Sarah Page, a 17-year-old White woman, on May 30, 1921. The next day, a scuffle between a White mob aiming to Lynch Rowland and a group of armed Black men protecting him set off the massacre. The standoff led to the White mob attacking Greenwood near dawn on June 1. When they attacked, members of the White mob, some of whom had been deputized by city officials, shot Black people in the streets, ransacked homes, and set fires block by block. White pilots flew airplanes and dropped turpentine or nitroglycerin bombs on the neighborhood. As many as 300 Black people were killed and hundreds of others were injured. At least 8,000 Black Tulsans were left homeless and 6,000 were detained in internment camps. A 2001 Oklahoma state commission report found that the massacre led to $1.8 million in property loss claims from the residents of Greenwood. A grand jury later blamed the Black men for the riots, though no one was ever charged with a crime. Rowland was later exonerated when Page failed to appear as a witness, and authorities concluded that Rowland most likely tripped and stepped on Page’s foot. The Tulsa Race Massacre has become more wellknown in mainstream America due to depictions on the popular HBO shows Watchmen and Lovecraft Country. Lovecraft Country recounted the events in depth, including portraying scenes with a family as they tried to protect their home. Watchmen offered a revisionist history of the Tulsa massacre. In that retelling, the descendants of the victims of the massacre received reparations and established new businesses in Greenwood. Most grade schools in the United States, including those in Tulsa, do not teach children about the massacre. The residents of Greenwood were resilient after the massacre, despite most of their insurance claims being denied due to the massacre being designated a race riot. After 1921, Greenwood was rebuilt, and thrived as a business district from the 1930s to the 1950s, though not at the same scale. In the 1960s, many of the houses and businesses were claimed
a congressional committee considering reparations for survivors and descendants of the massacre on May 19. Viola Ford Fletcher, Hughes Van Ellis and Lessie Benningfield Randle were children in 1921 and are now 107, 100 and Continued on page A2
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due to COVID-19, including for vaccine-related reasons. We designed this tool so workers and their employers can get information on workers’ paid sick leave options.” According to the website, in order to be eligible, workers must be unable to work or telework because they were caring for themselves due to COVID-19, caring for a child or another family member, or attending a vaccine appointment. Other qualifying circumstances include caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed or unavailable due to COVID-19 on the premises. The 2021 supplemental paid sick leave is only
Wednesday, June 2, 2021
Sephora to Fight Against Racial Bias with an Action Plan By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) – Beauty products retailer Sephora said Wednesday that it will bolster the number of Black-owned brands, scale back on third-party security guards and offer more inclusive marketing as part of a plan to combat racial bias at its stores. The company revealed its plan as it released findings of a study it commissioned that took an in-depth look at racial bias in the U.S. retail shopping experience. The study, based on a combination of employee and shopper surveys and academic research, began in the fall of 2019 and ended in late 2020. It found that two in five U.S. retail shoppers have personally experienced unfair treatment on the basis of their race or skin tone. It also found that Black shoppers are more likely than white shoppers to receive unfair treatment based on their skin color. The issue of racial bias has taken on more importance for companies in the wake of nationwide protests over police brutality last summer after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. As part of the plan, Sephora, a division of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, plans to double the assortment of Black-owned brands to 16 by the end of the year. It will also prominently feature and advertise Black-owned brands through a dedicated tab on the Sephora website. It also plans to roll out a new greeting system for shoppers across all stores to ensure a more consistent experience. Among other changes: Sephora will also reduce the presence of third-party security officers at its 500 U.S. stores and use more in-house specialists as a way to minimize shoppers’ concerns about policing. “We know we are in a strong position to influence positive changes in the retail industry and society at large and it’s our responsibility to step up,” said Jean-Andre Rougeot, president and CEO of Sephora Americas, in a statement.
Looped Cable Not a Noose, College President Says NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (AP) – Officials at a college in Conneticut received a complaint of a noose hanging from a construction site on campus but determined that the looped cable was not in fact a noose. “A construction crew working on campus hung an American flag from a crane’s cable in recognition of Memorial Day,” Central Connecticut State University President Zulma R. Toro said in a news release quoted by the Hartford Courant. “The cable has a steel loop at its end.” Toro said officials at the New Britain-based university understand that the image was “concerning” in light of the eight nooses that have been found at an Amazon warehouse construction site in Windsor since late April. She said the university would monitor the situation.
Tucson Becomes Latest to Pass Hair Discrimination Ban
(Photo by: Athena Fernandez-Lester, Tulsa Native)
Californians Can Claim COVID-Related Sick Leave for Four More Months Quinci LeGardye California Black Media More Californians now qualify for COVID-related paid sick leave. Thanks to the state’s 2021 COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave law, SB 95, which went into effect in March and was introduced by Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) in December last year. But eligiblilty for that compensation will continue for only four more months. Qualifying employees now have access to up to 80 hours of paid time off for reasons related to COVID-19. The maximum amount of 2021 COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave an employee can receive is $511 per day, or $5,110 in total. This is separate from any paid sick leave taken in 2020. The law is retroactive, extending eligibility back to Jan. 1, 2021, through Sept. 30. Before the 2021 law passed, Californians were only eligible for three days of paid sick leave based on provisions in the previous 2020 expanded paid sick leave legislation. That law expired Jan. 1. On April 26, the California Department of Industrial Relations announced the launch of an online eligibility tool that workers can use to determine whether they qualify for the expanded paid sick leave. In the announcement, Labor Commissioner Lilia García-Brower said, “The 2021 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave law provides workers up to 80 hours of paid sick leave if they or a family member are unable to work or telework
Free!
available for those working for employers that have 26 or more employees. The 2021 law also only applies to W-2 employees, unlike the 2020 law which applied to independent contractors in the food sector. If a person believes they are an employee misclassified as an independent contractor, they may be entitled to receive the expanded paid sick leave. The amount of paid leave each worker receives is based on an employee’s work schedule. Employees are entitled to 80 hours of paid leave if they are considered full time, or if they worked or were scheduled to work an average of at least 40 hours per week in the two weeks before they take the leave. Part-time employees with fixed schedules are entitled to the number of hours the employee is scheduled to work over two weeks. Part-time employees without fixed schedules are entitled to take 14 times the average number of hours they worked each day in the six months prior to their leave. Newly hired part-time workers without fixed schedules are entitled to the number of hours that they worked in the previous two weeks. The expanded paid sick leave is paid out by employers with more than 25 employees. If an employer refuses to pay for the leave, the employee can file a claim with the California Labor Commissioner’s Office. For more information on the paid sick leave program or to check eligibility, visit the California Department of Industrial Relations website.
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – It is now illegal in Tucson, Arizona, to enforce dress code or grooming policies that discriminate against hair texture and hairstyles in the workplace and public schools, officials said. The Tucson City Council voted Tuesday to adopt the Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, or CROWN Act, joining multiple cities across the country in passing the ordinance, the Arizona Daily Star reported. The ordinance has been part of a national campaign promoted by Dove, the National Urban League, Color Of Change and Western Center on Law and Poverty. It also prohibits workplace discrimination based on headdresses worn for cultural or religious reasons. “We want to be sure there are no barriers for people in the workplace and in schools,” said Annie Sykes, president of Tucson’s Black Women’s Task Force. “These barriers are usually rooted in discrimination and prejudice.” Sykes cited a study showing that Black women are 1.5 times more likely to be sent home from work because of their hair and 80% more likely to feel like they have to change their hair to fit in at work. “Your hair is your crown and it connects us to our culture and to our ancestry,” said Desiree Cook, a licensed hair stylist and founder of the local organization, I AM YOU 360. “So we ask that those crowns are honored, whether it be in schools, in the community or the workplace.” The Tucson ordinance will be enforced through the human relations section of the city code and will apply to any facility or business with public accommodations, officials said. Violations can bring civil penalties.
Penalties Against Connell High Over Racist Incident CONNELL, Wash. (AP) – The South Central Athletic Conference in Washington state has issued penalties after a racist incident during a high school basketball game between the Connell girl’s team and visiting Zillah. During the recent game Connell fans were seen and heard making monkey sounds and gestures at Black players from Zillah High School. KEPR-TV says the conference on Thursday imposed the following sanctions against Connell High School, which is located north of Pasco: The Connell boys and girls basketball teams will end their seasons on June 5, and neither team will be allowed to play in the post-season. The SCAC League Championship Wrestling event that was to be held at Connell has been moved and will now take place in Wapato. Connell fans, parents and students will no longer be allowed at any SCAC athletic event starting May 26. This ban will last until June 12. “The SCAC encourages and promotes good sportsmanship by student-athletes, coaches, parents and spectators,” the league said in a news release. “We strive to create a competitive, yet positive, atmosphere where everyone feels welcome.”