Racism Plays Role in Premature Birth Among Black Americans
The HD Videos Debut on Public Enemy’s Official YouTube Channel
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Bakersfield
Volume 48 Number 5
Serving Kern County for Over 47 Years
Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California
California Setting Standard for Voting Rights in America
FILE - In this June 10, 2020, file photo, Assemblywoman Shirley Weber speaks at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. The state of California is spending $16 million on a four-week blitz using billboards, radio and digital ads to educate people about how to vote in the recall election that could remove Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom from office. Weber, a Democrat and now California’s Secretary of State, says she hopes to see 100% participation in the recall. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media California Secretary of State Shirley Weber has until Oct. 14 to certify the results in the gubernatorial recall election held Sept 14. Her announcement will officially confirm that a majority of voters want Gavin Newsom to remain governor. While the certification process plays out, Weber and her office will continue to keep Californians informed about their voting rights with the 2022 General Election in full view, she said. A day after Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation bill that now makes vote-by-mail ballots permanent in California, Weber showed up at Fresno State University in the Central Valley with civil rights activist Dolores Huerta. They were there to discuss ways to make the democratic process more accessible by enfranchising more voters. Weber said steps California has taken to protect and expand voting rights are in contrast with some of the actions several states across the country have taken that appear to be restricting their citizens’ right to vote. “We want to open this franchise to everyone but in the midst of all of that, I am consciously aware that your President (Joe Biden) mentioned that there is a national movement heading in a different direction than California is going,” Weber said. “That national movement is to restrict voting. Restrict voting opportunities.” Last week, Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill (AB) 37, authored by Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park). That bill requires a voteby-mail ballot to be mailed to every registered voter in the state. He also signed a package of other legislation intended to increase voter access and strengthen integrity in California elections. “As states across our country continue to enact undemocratic voter suppression laws, California is increasing voter access, expanding voting options, and bolstering elections integrity and transparency,” Newsom said. “Last year, we took unprecedented steps to ensure all voters had the opportunity to cast a
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Black Biz Owners Push for Access to Trillions in Upcoming Fed Spending Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media Black-owned businesses in California and around the country are closely watching as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi decides when she has enough support from the congressional Democratic caucus to call a vote on the $1.2 trillion bipartisan federal infrastructure spending bill. Dubbed the “American Jobs Plan” by the Biden administration, the spending bill finances construction projects, airports, roads, bridges, education initiatives, and more. As a component of Biden’s broader “Build Back Better plan,” the legislation includes spending to combat climate change and support expanding the country’s social service and safety net programs for lower income families. The infrastructure bill is expected to expand opportunities for small businesses, including minority-owned ones, who procure contracts to implement various parts plan, hopefully accelerating racial equity, minority business owners say. Some Black business owners are concerned that, as has often been the case with large government spending programs, they will be overlooked. “Here is an opportunity for Black businesses to
profit from unprecedented taxpayer spending that will help build all of our communities across America. But we also know, from the past, that inclusion of Blackowned and other minority-owned businesses is not always automatic in situations like this,” said Gene Hale, President of the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce. “Even informing us that these opportunities exist – letting us know how we can grow and secure our businesses – is never a priority,” added Hale. “That has to change.” Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-37) said the infrastructure plan reflects the agenda that helped Democrats reclaim the White House. “The needs in our communities, especially for Black and Brown people, are too great to be put on hold,” said Lee in a statement issued on Sept. 22. “This is an opportunity for Democrats to be unified in our goal of realizing the vision and promise of this nation.” United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves said the financial investment by the federal government is “historic in nature” and should allow California Black businesses to utilize goods and services represented the plan’s vision. “It’s making sure that Black-owned businesses
have the opportunities, that for decades, missed out on,” Graves told California Black Media in a oneon-one interview by telephone. “We’re going to make certain that Black businesses have a seat at the table because the President has required that every agency have a plan for how Black businesses are going to be included in every single investment decision.” The Senate passed the infrastructure bill on Aug. 10 and a budget reconciliation bill that calls for an additional $3.5 trillion more in spending is being debated. Now the House of Representatives has to approve the legislation and forward it to Biden for his signature. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) has yet to set a date for a floor vote on the bill as a battle continues between liberal and moderate Democrats on the package’s price tag. “Let’s be clear: for months, progressives have been open, honest, and transparent with House leadership and the administration about our focus on passing both bills,” Lee stated. “We all proudly support the President’s entire Build Back Better package, which is why, from the inception of these negotiations, my colleagues and I advocated for the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework alongside the reconciliation package.”
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Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp Suffer Outages after Whistleblower Goes Public
Mark Zuckerberg, President and CEO of Facebook
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent Just one day after a whistleblower claimed that Facebook is aware of how its used to spread hate, violence and misinformation, Facebook suffered major outages on Monday, October 4. Instagram and WhatsApp – both owned by Facebook – also were shuttered. “We’re aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products,” Facebook officials wrote on Twitter. “We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience.” The tracking site, Down Detector, reported “tens of thousands of reports for each of the services.” While Facebook would load on Monday; Instagram and WhatsApp were only accessible for viewing. Users couldn’t load content or send messages. The problems surfaced – coincidentally, or not – after Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen made her claims on “60 Minutes.” She said Facebook worked to hide evidence that individuals and entities used the site to spread hate, push violence and misinformation. Facebook has denied those claims.
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Wednesday, October 6, 2021
Woman Killed by Officers Tried to Stab 8-Year-Old
DELANO, Calif. (AP) – A woman shot and killed by police in Southern California last weekend was trying to stab an 8-year-old girl, officials said. Officers responding Saturday to reports of a dispute heard screaming and threats from inside a home in Delano, police said. Officers saw through a window that a woman inside was armed with a knife, according to police. An officer opened fire through the window when the woman lunged at the child with the weapon, police said. The 30-year-old woman was shot and died at the scene, KBAK-TV in Bakersfield reported. She was not identified. The 8-year-old was taken to a hospital with unspecified injuries, police said. The girl was in stable condition, the news station reported.
Zoo Apologizes a Decade After Visitor’s Death
DENVER (AP) – The Denver Zoo has apologized more than a decade after a Black man died following a confrontation with police on zoo grounds. Zoo president Bert Vescolani on Friday publicly apologized to Gail Waters for her son Alonzo Ashley’s July 2011 death, The Denver Post reported. The 29-year-old Ashley was visiting the zoo when he started acting strangely and ran to find a water fountain. A zoo volunteer called for police, who tackled Ashley and shocked him with a stun gun. According to the coroner’s report, Ashley was placed face down on the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back and his legs crossed and pressed toward his buttocks. He began convulsing and stopped breathing before paramedics arrived. The coroner ruled Ashley’s death was caused by cardiorespiratory arrest brought on by heat, dehydration and exertion during the struggle. The district attorneys office cleared the eight officers involved, but the city paid Ashley’s family $295,000 in 2016 to settle a lawsuit. For years, the zoo refused to acknowledge any responsibility. The death led to protests and calls for accountability for zoo staff and volunteers for failing to recognize that Ashley was in distress and not a danger to the public. Many in the Denver’s Black community boycotted the zoo. On Friday, that boycott ended with the apology and the dedication of a water fountain and cooling station in Ashley’s honor.
Florida Library Offering Anti-Racism Kits
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) – A Florida library is offering anti-racism kits in hopes of making it easier to broach difficult conversations about race in a meaningful way. The Volusia County Public Library made the kits available for checkout on Friday. Each kit centers a discussion around a book and is geared for different age groups from kindergarten to adults. The library received a $3,000 grant from Florida Humanities to launch the project. “I think what the staff are hoping to see is civil discourse,” librarian Melissa Reynolds told The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Lawsuit: Black Base Worker Told to Keep Quiet
By MEAD GRUVER Associated Press CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – A Black civilian grounds-keeping and kitchen worker at a U.S. Air Force base in Wyoming was retaliated against and ultimately fired for complaining when other workers called him racial epithets, a lawsuit said. A supervisor told Bryan Wheels to keep quiet about the racial harassment, which began soon after he was hired in 2015 and continued through 2017, said the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit against Spokane, Washington-based Skils’kin. After laying off Wheels in December 2017, Skils’kin didn’t follow its practice of honoring his seniority by rehiring him that winter. Instead, the nonprofit gave a job to a less-senior white employee, the EEOC said in its lawsuit filed Monday in Wyoming U.S. District Court in Cheyenne. The company didn’t offer a Wheels a job the following spring, either, the lawsuit said. “It’s quite concerning how egregious the conduct was and that the employer didn’t take care of it,” EEOC regional attorney Mary O’Neill said Thursday. “There’s such a low percentage of African Americans in Wyoming. We worry when there’s very few African Americans in the workplace and there’s hostility like this.” Wheels was the only Black member of the Skils’kin contract crew at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, which oversees 150 Minuteman nuclear missiles in underground silos in Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado. Skils’kin hires people for contract business and government jobs in Wyoming, Washington and Montana, according to the company’s website. The nonprofit subjected Wheels to “severe and persistent racial harassment,” the lawsuit said. At one point, after Wheels complained about a coworker’s racist comments, a supervisor put him on a two-man grounds crew with the worker who made the remarks, the lawsuit said. The EEOC sought to negotiate an out-ofcourt settlement with Skils’kin but was unsuccessful, according to the federal agency. Phone messages left Wednesday with Skils’kin and F.E. Warren Air Force Base seeking comment on the lawsuit weren’t immediately returned.