Bakersfield
Nikki Giovanni, Iconic Poet and Voice of the Black Arts Movement, Dies at 81
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior
National Correspondent
Nikki Giovanni, the groundbreaking poet, author, and professor whose work embodied the spirit of the Black Arts Movement and beyond, died on Monday in Blacksburg, Virginia. She was 81. Her wife, Virginia C. Fowler, confirmed the cause was complications from lung cancer.
Born Yolande Cornelia Giovanni Jr. on June 7, 1943, in Knoxville, Tennessee, Giovanni spent her formative years in Cincinnati, Ohio, but returned to Knoxville every summer with her sister to visit their grandparents. These visits helped shape her sense of identity and belonging, themes that would become central to her work.
She graduated with honors in history from Fisk University, a historically Black college in Nashville and her grandfather’s alma mater. While at Fisk, Giovanni’s defiant spirit and intellect were evident. Expelled briefly due to issues with authority, she returned after a period of reflection and was readmitted with the help of a supportive Dean of Women. This early experience of rebellion and reconciliation laid the groundwork for her unapologetic approach to life and art.
A Voice of Rebellion and Resilience Giovanni rose to prominence during the 1960s as a fierce voice in the Black Arts Movement, alongside literary giants such as Amiri Baraka, Audre Lorde, Ntozake Shange, and Sonia Sanchez. Her early works, including “Black Feeling, Black Talk” (1968) and “Black Judgement” (1968), were steadfast in their militancy and pride. Her poetry grappled with the injustices faced by Black Americans, including the brutal murder of Emmett Till and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, which killed four Black girls.
At a time when mainstream publishers showed little interest in the work of a young Black woman writing what they labeled “militant” poetry, Giovanni took matters into her own hands. She self-published her work, founding a company to distribute her collections. “No one was much interested in a Black girl writing what was called ‘militant’ poetry,” she once wrote. “I thought of it as good poetry.” Her boldness paid off. In 1972, at just 29 years old,
she sold out Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, reading her poetry to a crowd of more than 1,000 alongside the New York Community Choir. The following year, for her 30th birthday, she filled the 3,000-seat Philharmonic Hall, where the choir joined her again, along with Melba Moore and Wilson Pickett. The audience erupted joyfully when she recited her now-iconic poem, “Ego-Tripping.” The piece, a celebration of Black female strength, begins with the lines: “I was born in the congo I walked to the fertile crescent and built the sphinx…” And concludes triumphantly: “I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal I cannot be comprehended except by my permission I mean…I…can fly Like a bird in the sky…”
A Prolific Career
In addition to her poetry, Giovanni wrote children’s books, essays, and a memoir, “Gemini: An Extended Autobiographical Statement on My First Twenty-Five Years of Being a Black Poet (1971).” She was known for her candid reflections on race, gender, and identity, blending
the personal with the political in provocative and deeply human ways.
Giovanni’s interview with James Baldwin on the television program Soul! in 1971 remains a touchstone in American cultural history. Their two-hour conversation, filmed in London, explored the intersections of race, gender, and societal expectations. At one point, she posed a raw question about the cycle of violence affecting Black families: “What do you do about a man who is mistreated in the world and comes home and brutalizes his wife? Where does that leave his daughter?” Baldwin’s response: “Sweetheart. Our ancestors taught us how to do that.”
An Educator and Mentor
In 1987, Giovanni joined the faculty at Virginia Tech, where she became a University Distinguished Professor. She remained there for 35 years, influencing generations of students with her wit, wisdom, and unwavering commitment to truth. Even in academia, her rebellious spirit shone through. Giovanni famously supported her student, Seung-Hui Cho, before he committed the tragic mass shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007. She had him removed from her class when she sensed his troubling nature.
Giovanni earned seven NAACP Image Awards, a Grammy nomination, and the distinction of having three of her books listed as New York Times and Los Angeles Times Best Sellers—a rare feat for a poet.
Giovanni described herself as a dreamer. “My dream was not to publish or to even be a writer,” she remarked. “My dream was to discover something no one else had thought of. I guess that’s why I’m a poet. We put things together in ways no one else does.”
A Legacy of Dreams and Defiance Giovanni’s poetry was a lifeline for many, especially young Black women who saw their power and potential reflected in her verses. She wasn’t just a poet but a cultural force who celebrated Blackness, womanhood, and the art of dreaming. “I’m a writer. I’m happy,” she demanded.
Nikki Giovanni leaves behind her son, Thomas, and her granddaughter. Her father, mother, sister, and aunt preceded her in death.
KWANZAA
Infusing Community with Cultural Memory, Movement & Momentum
By Bakari Sanyu
How do African Americans collectively express our ethnicity as an African people? How do we express a deep rootedness in African culture and consciousness that crosses various countries, religions, classes, ages, generations and political persuasions on a common ground of ethical values? What African heritage tradition functions to renew and strengthen the intertwined, cherished, and indivisible values of family,
its
and instructive practices so
our lives, families, and community for mutual flourishing and benefit. Since the 1960’s African American families and communities across the USA, have persistently presented the Kwanzaa season as a vehicle for
Kwanzaa and then share the beauty of its values, insights, and instructive practices throughout our community. The cultural publication is readily available at www.sankorepress.com and a comprehensive reading will provide considerable detailed explanations.
The name Kwanzaa comes from the Kiswahili phrase, matunda ya kwanza, where matunda means “fruits”, and ya kwanza means “first”. Dr. Karenga added the extra “a” to the Kiswahili word kwanza, to distinguish the cultural tradition’s name. The language of Kiswahili was chosen for the name Kwanzaa and for all its accompanying phrases, because it is the most widely spoken African continental trade language used among African countries. And the year-end observance of Kwanzaa occurs because this cultural expression is derived from the African continent’s traditional year-end agricultural harvest celebrations.
The cultural celebration serves to restore and reinforce rootedness in our African heritage, culture, and
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and all who had the privilege of knowing him. Though he is no longer with us, his spirit will live on in our hearts and memories forever.
A memorial service to honor Wesley’s life will be held on Saturday, December 28, 2024, at 11:00 am at Alma’s Funeral Home – 2130 East California, Bakersfield, CA. Family, and friends are invited to join us as we celebrate his life and legacy.
“Those we love don’t go away; they walk beside us every day. Unseen, unheard, but always near, still loved, still missed, and very dear.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Jamie Foxx required stitches after getting hit in the face with a glass while celebrating his birthday at a restaurant in Beverly Hills, California, a representative for the actor told the Los Angeles Times. It wasn’t immediately clear what prompted the incident Friday night at the celebrity hotspot Mr. Chow.
“Someone from another table threw a glass that hit him in the mouth,” a spokesperson for the actor said in
Crawford,
President-Elect Trump Nominates
First Black Cabinet Member
By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Correspondent
On Nov. 23, President-Elect Donald Trump
announced the nomination of Scott Turner as his choice for the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Turner is the first African American selected by Trump for his cabinet or any other high-level Administration position. The former NFL player has also previously worked in government. Turner was the executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council.
He also is a former Texas state representative.
Though it is becoming increasingly clear that Trump’s Administration is guided by the goals as published in Project 2025, Turner could lead an agency that is responsible for policy that impacts the lives of many African Americans. How much actual control members of Trump’s cabinet will actually have remains to be seen. During Trump’s first Administration, there was a great deal of turnover for cabinet-level and senior staff-level positions.
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shapes policies that connect to the enforcement of fair
housing laws, government money that subsidizes lowerincome rents and mortgages and other policies, including:
Fair housing: Enforcing fair housing laws and ensuring equal housing opportunities
Homeownership: Supporting homeownership through mortgage insurance programs
Turner currently serves as chair of the Center for Education Opportunity at the America First Policy Institute, a group with ties to Trump’s transition team.
“I am pleased to nominate Scott Turner, from the Great State of Texas, as the Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Scott is an NFL Veteran, who, during my First Term, served as the First Executive Director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council (WHORC), helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities,” the Trump transition team said in a statement.
“Those efforts, working together with former HUD Secretary, Ben Carson, were maximized by Scott’s guidance in overseeing 16 Federal Agencies which implemented more
than 200 policy actions furthering Economic Development. Under Scott’s leadership, Opportunity Zones received over $50 Billion Dollars in Private Investment,” the statement concluded.
During Ben Carson’s tenure as Trump’s HUD Secretary, there were millions allocated for new housing developments in Norfolk and Newport News, Virginia using TIGR grants. The Newport News development is almost complete. Turner served alongside Sec. Carson at the time.
Turner was drafted in 1995 by the Washington Redskins and played cornerback for the Redskins from 1995 to 1997 and then became a coach for the team.
Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent investigative journalist and the publisher of Black Virginia News. She is a political analyst who appears regularly on #RolandMartinUnfiltered and speaks on Crisis Comms on YouTube @LaurenVictoriaBurke. She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke.
Supreme Court Opens Public Access Through Online Lottery
BakersfieldNews Observer
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Available online: www.ognsc.com
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
For those eager to witness historic arguments and rulings firsthand, the Supreme Court has launched a pilot program that offers public seating through an online lottery system. This change ends what many consider a Washington, D.C., tradition: standing in line for hours to secure a spot in the courtroom.
The court, widely viewed as the most conservative in modern history, is set to hear cases under the incoming administration that could have far-reaching effects. In addition to the traditional first-come, first-seated policy, the online lottery offers an additional method for the public to attend arguments.
During the pilot program, members of the public can apply for courtroom seating through the online lottery.
For those who prefer the traditional approach, a line still forms on East Capitol Street next to the Court building. The new system dissuades visitors from holding spaces for others not in the building, which begins seating at 9:30
a.m. The Supreme Court Building will remain closed to the general public while the court is in session. Court police officers are available to answer questions and assist with the process.
With some cases expected to attract large crowds, officials said visitors should plan for lines to form before the building opens. They caution that delays can occur during security screening and seating. Officials added that all visitors must pass through a magnetometer, and an x-ray machine screens personal belongings. A list of prohibited items is available to ensure the safety of visitors and staff and to protect the court’s historic grounds.
Parents are advised against bringing infants or young children into the courtroom, as proceedings require strict decorum.
After the morning session concludes, all visitors must leave the courtroom and the Great Hall. Those who wish to attend an afternoon argument must line up again in front of the building.
Infusing Community with Cultural Memory, Movement & Momentum KWANZAA
consciousness, as well as functions to strengthen, maintain, and reaffirm our interconnected family, community, and cultural bonds. The annual tradition brings us together to focus on and recommit to develop, contribute to, manifest, maintain, continue, uplift, preserve, expand, and propel forward much more organized cultural memory, Movement, and momentum for our future generations.
This beautiful cultural model of possibility and cultural excellence created by Dr. Maulana Karenga, reminds our communities that we have the collective capacity, duty, and wherewithal to change the prevailing conditions of our lives with cultural memory, if we diligently practice more cultural values, focused priorities, organization, commitment, and continuous empowered action.
Kwanzaa honors the moral responsibility and awesome obligation we have to remember our esteemed Ancestors, who through their love, labor, and struggle, laid the foundation for us and pushed our lives and history forward, and on whose collective shoulders we now stand. The thrust of the annual cultural tradition is to continually strive to build, strengthen, maintain, and reaffirm our family, community, and cultural bonds with deliberate actions that expand more excellence, willingness, intentionality, capability, clarity, integrity, trust, confidence, togetherness, wellness, cooperation, commitment, empowerment, productivity and progress. And the annual celebration serves as a reminder to our community in all of its historical, geographical, and current diversity to continue to embrace, embody, build on, contribute to, maintain, manifest, and expand a dignified cultural legacy as a collective way of functioning in the world.
Our overall condition will change when enough individuals and families embrace, nurture, support, teach, and institutionalize self-knowledge to transform their selfimage, as well as persistently work to intentionally practice more overarching cultural values. Relearn OUR story, manifest priorities to restore cultural names to ourselves, organizations, commemorations, programs, festivals, ceremonies, and events, decorate with self-reflective heritage imagery, and continually patronize our community newspaper and many more Black owned businesses, so we can sustain a collective economic base. Join a grassroots community cultural organization and purposely act to be a dependable, responsible, financially contributing, reliable, and committed Member (NOT a random drop-in, dropby, drop-out, drop-off “best wishes for continued success”, half-in, half-out, loitering, peripheral, spectating, idle, hand-waving bystander). The heart and soul of the Kwanzaa cultural tradition revolves around Seven Principles. The Kiswahili term for all Seven Principles is the Nguzo Saba. This minimum set of ethical values addresses what cultural integrity challenges our community faces and how to successfully deal with the cultural challenges. The overarching context is intended to reinvigorate the passion, necessity, urgency, and priority of propelling OURstory’s collective consciousness forward. There is one principle to focus on
during each day of the 7-day Kwanzaa cultural celebration.
The Nguzo Saba (Seven Principles) stated here in both Kiswahili and English, are as follows with brief explanations:
• Umoja (Unity)
To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race
This is a call to coalesce, focus, and purposely act and commit to persistently practice working harmoniously together in our family, community, and culture for collective empowerment.
• Kujichagulia (Self-Determination)
To define ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves, instead of being defined, named, created for, and spoken for by others
This is a call to persistently reclaim, value, respect, embrace, embody, and restore the best of our history, heritage, and culture so we can think for, empower, and work to develop ourselves according to our own dignity affirming needs and priorities.
• Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility)
To build and maintain our community together and to make our sisters and brothers problems, our problems, and to solve them together
This is a call to commit to each other in destiny and duty, and to consistently work towards improving and better sustaining our family, community, cultural conditions and varying capacities, as well as our future possibilities.
• Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)
To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from together
This is a call to build, expand, and persistently patronize community vendors, stores, shops, businesses, entrepreneurs, and companies to establish a vital financial base for funding and sustaining more collective development and infrastructure ownership.
• Nia (Purpose)
To make as our collective vocation the building and developing of our community, in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness
This is a call to commit to an overarching dedication directed towards embracing, embodying, and practicing building more family, community, and cultural unity as a way of life, so we can restore widespread self-respect, progress, trust, wellbeing, and collective productivity.
• Kuumba (Creativity)
To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it
This is a call to introduce and develop original, innovative, and inventive productions that are always socially purposeful, dignified, regenerative, and uplifting.
• Imani (Faith)
To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle
This is a call to rise and be a transformative agent of change and to manifest service, empathy, healing, goodness, social engagement, and inspiration as a way of life, so we can create a better and more beautiful world than what we have inherited.
Our Kwanzaa cultural tradition functions as a source of collective identity, purpose, direction, and consciousness.
For as our esteemed Ancestor, Nana “Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer” taught, “there are two things we should always care about, never to forget where we came from and to always praise the bridges that carried us over”. The message and meaning of Kwanzaa are intended to continually invigorate and preserve a cultural foundation for uplifting our family and community with self-defining and self-confirming bedrock principles derived from tradition, reason, and history. Our esteemed Ancestor, Nana “Dr. Frantz Fanon” has said that we must ask ourselves three culturally rooted questions:
• Who Am I?
• Am I Really Who I Say I Am?
• Am I All That I Ought To Be?
The collective answers to these three questions will determine the extent of how each of us chooses to function as a cultural representative of our people throughout the year. Therefore, let’s work together and apply and practice our ethical cultural values, tell our unique complex narrative, present uplifting dignified self-imagery, promote positive social cohesion, patience, courtesy, friendliness, cooperation, and harmony, and continually reject, challenge, and eliminate self-destructive, self-debasing, and self-erasure conditioning behaviors which result from cultural alienation and historical amnesia. More importantly, remember that our year-round practice of the Nguzo Saba requires us to sustain a profound sense of kinship with and among each other. Do something purposely, collectively, dependably, organized, dignified, consistently, and reoccurring in community. Uplift, empower, and expand much more excellence, activity, interconnections, clarity, integrity, trust, cultural knowledge restoration practices, community bonding involvement, focused organizing, cooperative wealth generation, independent cultural institution building work, skilled trades development, infrastructure ownership, and cultural competence. We are our own Cultural Liberators, Ambassadors and Advocates.
There will be a Kwanzaa Celebration for our community-at-large on Friday, December 27, 2024, from 1 pm to 5 pm, at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, located at 1000 S. Owens Street, Bakersfield, California. African heritage attire is strongly emphasized to proudly embody, honor, elevate, and support the essence, ambience, purpose, and ethnic imagery of our cultural tradition. Public Admission is FREE and our entire community is cordially invited to enjoy the annual festive cultural event. Heri za Kwanzaa (Happy Kwanzaa) 5Bakari
While serving as Executive Director of the White House Opportunity & Revitalization Council, Scott Turner delivers remarks at the 2019 National Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Conference Tuesday, Sep. 10, 2019/ Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead.
‘The Most Important Rapper That Ever Existed’ LL Cool J Reflects on His Legacy:
Legendary rapper LL Cool J recently shared bold thoughts about his legacy in hip-hop, declaring himself the “most important rapper that ever existed.” In a conversation on Apple Music’s Le Code, the Queens native detailed his contributions to rap and culture, explaining why he believes his impact is unparalleled.
“People Will Wake Up to My Legacy”– LL Cool J
Speaking humbly but with conviction, LL Cool J remarked, “I truly believe one day people are going to wake up and realize LL Cool J is the most important rapper that ever existed.” He elaborated that this recognition would encompass not just music but fashion, acting, and business as well.
LL pointed out his influence on trends now ubiquitous in hip-hop culture. “When it comes to the jewelry, this is the guy that introduced all the diamonds, the ice, and the champagne,” he said. He also credited himself for pioneering love songs in rap. “When it comes to the love songs, they’re gonna say, ‘This is the guy that introduced the love songs and all the love s**t.’”
The rapper known for hits like Mama Said Knock You Out didn’t stop there. LL highlighted his role in establishing the “bad boy” persona. “They’re gonna realize that this is the guy who introduced all the rebellious, bad boy vibes before it was done,” he said.
He also claimed credit for coining the term “G.O.A.T.,” now synonymous with greatness across industries. “When it comes to the G.O.A.T. terminology, they gon’ say, ‘This is the guy who came up with all the G.O.A.T. stuff.’” LL also noted his early involvement with iconic brands like FUBU and Kangol, underscoring his pioneering role in blending music and fashion.
LL further emphasized his accomplishments as an actor, stating, “This is the guy who did incredible stuff on TV and at the same time was still making incredible records.”
Though acknowledging the challenges of encapsulating his legacy in a single biopic, LL Cool J is confident history will reflect his wide-ranging influence. “I could go on and on and on,” he said. For LL, his story is about being more than a rapper—it’s about being a cultural architect.
By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr.
AP Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ice Cube could have chased trends to keep up with today’s rap game for his latest release, but instead, he stayed loyal to the gritty West Coast gangsta sound that’s been his signature since his early N.W.A. days and flourishing solo career.
Ice Cube stuck to his streetwise storytelling roots while inserting some West Coast rap party vibes on his 11th studio album “Man Down,” which was released on the same day as Kendrick Lamar’s surprise project late last month. Ice Cube’s new album cracked the top 10 of Billboard’s top rap albums chart — his first time in 14 years — debuting at No. 8. The rap icon made “Man Down” to satisfy his loyal listeners. He’s known for churning out classic hip-hop jams such as “It Was a Good Day,” “Check Yo Self,” “No Vaseline” and “Steady Mobbin.”
“You have to serve your clientele,” Ice Cube said about “Man Down,” which features Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, E-40, Killer Mike, Xzibit, and Cypress Hill’s B-Real. His latest project is his first since 2018’s “Everythang’s Corrupt.” “The people that got you here are the people you’re making the music for so to speak,” said Ice Cube, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of N.W.A. in 2016. “Not always for the new fan or the new kid that’s just getting into music. That’s not who you should be reaching for if you’ve been in the game for almost four decades.”
In a recent interview, Ice Cube spoke with The Associated Press about his partnership with the NFL, the BIG3 basketball league and his thoughts after the U.S.
presidential election. Ice Cube’s Contract with Black America progressive partnership with the NFL Ice Cube first introduced the Contract with Black America to political leaders from both parties in 2020, and four years later, he’s still driving the conversation with the NFL. He said CWBA’s partnership with the league has gained traction since joining forces in 2022, creating opportunities for Black-owned businesses. The partnership between Cube’s initiative and the NFL focuses on identifying opportunities in finance, tech and production.
“When they have an opening, they’ll give our people that we’ve put in front of them a shot at getting a job,” said Ice Cube, whose CWBA aims to address the wealth gap between Black and white Americans and economic inclusion.
The CWBA seeks to remove barriers and open doors.
“All we want is a shot,” he said. “All companies have to step up and earn that job. We just say ‘Hey, let us know when you got an opening in tech. ... and let us put a few companies in front of you. And let the best company win. They’ve picked a few of our companies and now they’ve gotten contracts with the NFL, which is great.”
Ice Cube hopes the CWBA will extend beyond the NFL, encouraging other companies to adopt the initiative as well. In 2020, he presented his proposal to both main political parties, including Donald Trump’s campaign, a move that sparked criticism from those who thought he was supporting Trump at the time.
But that wasn’t the case, Ice Cube said. Whichever party supports CWBA, he’ll listen.
“Politically, they would have to show me an appetite
for working with me,” he said. “I’m not a politician. I never went to these political parties and asked them for anything. I’m still down to help.” More movies or nah?
While Ice Cube has made a mark in music, he’s done the same in film too.
But with Hollywood grappling with challenges like the aftermath of two major strikes and the lingering effects of the pandemic, Ice Cube has chosen the independent route for his upcoming projects. For now, he’s not being reliant on major studios.
“It’d be better to make independent movies and not go through the studio system,” said Ice Cube, who starred in the late John Singleton ‘s “Boyz in the Hood,” “Are We There Yet?“ and the ” Barbershop,” “ Ride Along
” and “Friday” franchise films. He also wrote, starred in, produced and directed the 1998 film “The Players Club.”
“With independent movies, I can do some great work that’s not sterilized by the studio,” he said. “When they make a big movie, they spend a lot of money. When they make a low budget movie, they want to cut it at every little nook and cranny to where sometimes they cut out the best parts. You have to combat that.”
Big moves for Ice Cube’s BIG3
Ice Cube created a haven for athletes who seemed to have left their pro basketball days behind. Through his cofounded league, BIG3, he offered them a second shot — a sanctuary to keep their passion for the game alive.
His 3-on-3 basketball league is gearing up for its sixth straight year, with an expanded 11-week season kicking off in summer 2025. Since its launch in 2017, the league has evolved, transitioning to a traditional city-based model where teams host home games, moving away from its
original road-game-only structure.
Earlier this year, BIG3 sold its first franchise in Los Angeles to a group of investors for $10 million. The games stream on CBS through Paramount+, and some stream on X.
“It’s growing every day. We do have some great new owners and figuring out with them the direction of the league, where should we be and planting our flag,” Ice Cube said about BIG3, which has starred former NBA players like Joe Johnson, Rashard Lewis, Stephen Jackson and Corey Maggette. Last year, Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown became the first active NBA player to participate in
LL Cool J, 2017 Kennedy Center Honoree delivers remarks after receiving his Kennedy Center Honor medal at the Kennedy Center Honor Dinner at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. on December 2, 2017. [State Department Photo/ Public Domain]
FTC Data Reveals Surge in Online Job Scams, with Losses Exceeding $220 Million in 2024
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
New complaint data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shows a staggering rise in online job scams, particularly schemes known as “task scams,” which now account for nearly 40% of job scam reports in 2024. The sharp increase in these fraudulent activities has driven overall losses to job scams to more than $220 million in just the first six months of this year.
According to the FTC’s latest data spotlight, reports of task scams have skyrocketed from zero in 2020 to 5,000 in 2023, before quadrupling to 20,000 in the first half of 2024 alone. These scams typically begin with unsolicited texts or WhatsApp messages offering vague online work opportunities. Consumers who respond are told they will be completing tasks like “app optimization” or “product boosting.”
Victims may receive small payouts early on to build confidence in the job’s legitimacy. The scheme then escalates, requiring victims to invest their money to complete subsequent tasks, promising more significant payouts. However, once the money is sent, it is lost for
good.
“The supposed ‘job’ is to complete tasks in an app or online platform for which you’ll ‘earn money’ from a ‘commission’ on each click,” the FTC warned in a consumer alert. “But those promises are fake: there aren’t any commissions, and nobody but the scammers make any money.”
Cryptocurrency is the primary method of payment in these scams. The FTC reported that task scams have significantly contributed to a surge in cryptocurrencyrelated losses, which reached $41 million in the first half of 2024—almost double the total for 2023.
In 2023, overall losses from online job scams totaled $286 million. By mid-2024, reported losses had already surpassed $220 million. Since many victims do not report these crimes, the FTC cautioned that these figures likely represent just a fraction of the damage.
The FTC highlighted specific red flags and offered advice to help consumers avoid falling victim to task scams: Ignore unsolicited messages: Real employers do not typically contact potential employees via generic texts or WhatsApp messages.
Never pay to get paid: Any request for money upfront in exchange for future earnings is a clear sign of a scam. Be wary of “gamified” tasks: Offers to pay for liking or rating online content are illegal and usually fraudulent. Federal officials cautioned that the rise of “gamified job scams”—which lure victims with repetitive tasks like interacting with social media posts or rating businesses— has further amplified the threat. Victims often receive large batches of tasks, with promises of increased pay after completing multiple levels. These schemes culminate with demanding deposits to “unlock” their earnings, ultimately leading to financial losses.“No matter what the system says you earned, you didn’t,” the FTC report cautioned. “That money isn’t real. And if you deposit that money, you won’t get it back.”The FTC’s data regarding job scams is alarming, according to officials. “We urge everyone to be cautious and skeptical of too-good-to-be true offers,” the FTC concluded. “Protecting yourself starts with staying informed and recognizing the red flags.”
RFK Jr.’s Vaccine War Threatens to Resurrect the Ghosts of Jim Crow Medicine
By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior National Correspondent
In the looming shadow of a second Trump administration, the battle over vaccines and public health policy is being revived with unsettling vigor. Public health leaders, particularly those in African American communities who recall the long, painful history of medical neglect and systemic racism, are alarmed by the campaign to revoke approval of life-saving vaccines, including the polio vaccine. This modern war on vaccines is led by figures like Aaron Siri, a lawyer closely associated with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial choice for health secretary. It threatens to unravel decades of hard-fought progress that began when Black Americans demanded equitable treatment in the fight against polio. The disease’s history remains linked to race and segregation, as the healthcare system once viewed polio as a “white problem.” Healthcare facilities, segregated and led by racist medical standards, advanced the misinformation that African Americans were immune to polio. Because of that, polio cases in Black Americans were not properly diagnosed.
The Myth of Polio as a “White Disease”
In the early 20th century, polio was perceived as a disease that primarily affected white children, transcending class lines. According to research by the National Library of Medicine, medical experts of the era, such as George Draper, propagated theories of racial susceptibility, claiming that “primitive” Black bodies were impervious to polio while “delicate” White bodies were vulnerable. The lack of data perpetuated those myths, and Black communities were deprived of doctors who could appropriately diagnose polio’s early symptoms.
The consequences of this neglect proved dire. Black
families faced a segregated healthcare system where few hospitals would admit Black polio patients and fewer still would employ Black doctors and nurses. The Tuskegee Institute’s polio center, founded in 1941 with funding from the March of Dimes, was one of the few facilities dedicated to treating Black polio victims. However, with only 36 beds, it was unable to adequately address the national crisis.
Roosevelt, Warm Springs, and Political Embarrassment
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a polio survivor, founded the Warm Springs Rehabilitation Center in Georgia in the 1920s. Despite Roosevelt’s progressive image, Warm Springs maintained a Whites-only policy. Black patients were denied admission, even as they contributed to fundraising efforts for the center through the annual Birthday Ball campaigns. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” had been exposed for its racial injustices.
Faced with mounting pressure from civil rights activists and the political embarrassment of segregation, the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (NFIP) announced a major grant to establish the Tuskegee Infantile Paralysis Center in 1941, which treated Black polio sufferers and trained African American doctors.
The Fight for Integration and Health Equity
In the 1940s and, later, the 1950s, a shift occurred with the civil rights movement. Black leaders like Dr. John Chenault and Charles Hudson Bynum, the NFIP’s director of interracial activities, fought to dismantle the myth of polio’s racial exclusivity. Bynum’s advocacy included Black children in the historic 1954 Salk vaccine trials. According to Scientific American, the HeLa cells—taken without consent from Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman—played a crucial role in developing the vaccine, cultivated in a makeshift lab at the Tuskegee Institute.
Still, segregation persisted. Black children who received the Salk vaccine in Montgomery, Alabama, had to wait on the lawns of white schools because they weren’t allowed to use the facilities inside. At Warm Springs, Black patients were only grudgingly admitted in the late 1940s, and even then, they faced segregated accommodations and second-class care.
Vaccine Rollbacks: A Chilling Threat
Spearheaded by Kennedy, the anti-vaccine movement has returned and is threatening the fight for equal healthcare.
Aaron Siri’s attempts to take back approval for the polio vaccine, which has saved millions of lives and kept millions from becoming paralyzed or dying, are a scary reminder of how easily progress can be lost. Kennedy’s appointment as health secretary and Siri’s influence point to a risky change in public health policy that could disproportionately hurt communities of color.
Experts in public health caution that weakening vaccines will allow avoidable outbreaks to occur.
Lawrence Gostin, a public health law expert, described Siri’s legal strategies as a way to “hobble” agencies like the FDA, drowning them in litigation to prevent them from protecting public health. “This is a way to hobble a public health agency,” Gostin said in a published interview. “You can just drown them in paperwork so they can’t do their work.”
Lessons from Polio: Vigilance Against Medical Racism
The history of polio—from Warm Springs’ segregation to the overlooked contributions of Black scientists—offers a stark lesson in the dangers of medical racism and the need for constant vigilance. “Our racial disparities and health disparities were not invented in the past 10 years, and very often, they have been deliberately ignored,” historian Naomi Rogers, a tenured Associate Professor in
the Program for the History of Science and Medicine at Yale University, offered in a Carleton College white paper. Black communities today are suddenly faced with the same access, trust, and institutional neglect issues that hampered previous anti-polio efforts. Experts said the reversal of vaccines threatens to repeat historical injustices, endangering millions of lives and damaging decades of civil rights progress.
Those with political power are pushing the myth that vaccines are hazardous, recalling the pseudoscientific racism that claimed Black bodies were immune to polio. Civil rights leaders asserted that the stakes are significant, and history requires lawmakers to acknowledge the accomplishments of those who battled for equity and protect the public health victories they secured.
“When the first doses of the Covid-19 vaccines were available, people of color had less access to information and routine clinical care, which resulted in a big gap in vaccinations administered to whites compared to African Americans,” researchers at Carleton College wrote.
Secretary of State Reports “Generous Turnout” in November Election
By
Antonio Ray
Harvey California Black Media
On Dec. 13, California Secretary of State (SOS)
Shirley N. Weber officially certified the Nov. 5 General Election results from all 58 counties.
The SOS reported that 16,140,044 (71.43% of registered voters) ballots were cast in this past election. The total number of votes this year was down from the Nov. 3, 2020 vote count which was 17,785,151 or 80.67% --by nearly nine percentage points (according to Weber’s “Statement of Vote: General Election Nov. 5, 2024” report.
Among the statewide election statistics reported by the Secretary of State’s Office 13,034,378 vote-by-mail ballots were cast, while 3,105,666 ballots were cast at voting locations.
Two days before the certification, Weber held a news
briefing with media publications. During the conference, held on Zoom, Weber shared details about the process of certifying votes.
Weber said, although there were minor issues and “glitches,” overall the election process in the state ran accordingly.
“There were instances and things that happened, but they did not stop the election. We did not have people lose confidence and not go to the polls to vote,” Weber said.
“There were minor glitches that took place, but we addressed each one of them and nothing seemed to linger in regard to people who wanted to vote and participate in the process which was evident by the generous turnout that we had,” said Weber.
“Nationally,
Daniel Penny Acquitted in Subway Chokehold
Death of Jordan Neely, Sparking Fresh Outrage
By Stacy M. Brown
Newswire Senior National Correspondent
five men deliberated for five days. Their decision followed a deadlock on a more serious manslaughter charge, leading Judge Maxwell Wiley to dismiss it on Friday. Penny, 26, who faced up to four years in prison, walked free after the jury found no unanimous consensus on his criminal liability. Neely’s final moments were captured on bystander video, showing Penny restraining him with a chokehold for nearly six minutes. Witnesses testified that Neely, a onetime Michael Jackson impersonator, had been shouting on the train, expressing his desperation, hunger, and desire to return to jail. His erratic behavior allegedly frightened some passengers, and Penny grabbed Neely and placed him in a chokehold.
The case has drawn comparisons to the infamous 1984 incident involving Bernhard Goetz, a white man who shot four Black teenagers on a New York City subway after claiming he believed they were trying to rob him.
Goetz’s acquittal on attempted murder charges, despite being convicted of illegal firearm possession, sparked fierce debates on race, vigilantism, and self-defense. Much like the Goetz case, Penny’s acquittal has again highlighted the persistent racial disparities in how the justice system perceives and punishes acts of force, particularly when the victims are Black. Prosecutors argued Penny’s actions were reckless and caused Neely’s death by neck compression. The city’s medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a homicide, attributing it to the chokehold. Penny’s defense team maintained he acted out of fear for other passengers’ safety and did not intend to kill Neely. They further claimed that the amount of pressure Penny applied during the restraint was unclear. The case has resurfaced deep societal divides over the handling of mental health crises and vigilantism. Neely, a Black man
Photo of Jordan Neely.
100 Black Men of Chicago to Host
26th Annual Holiday Toy Drive
Staff Report
Chicago Defender
The 100 Black Men of Chicago, Inc., a non-profit organization, will host their 26th Annual Holiday Toy Drive on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024, from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency Grand Ballroom, located at 151 E. Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60601. Tickets are available via Ticket Falcon.
Each year, the 100 BMC’s Holiday Toy Drive provides necessities and gifts for women and children in homeless shelters and community centers across the Chicagoland area. This charitable initiative has collectively amassed more than a million dollars in donations, resources, and gifts, with thousands of attendees gathering each year to support the event. More than thirty organizations have been supported in the past, this year’s organizations include WECAN, La Rabida Hospital, By the Hand Club for Kids, Moving Everest, and St. James Community Church.
Media personalities Michelle Relerford (NBC5) and Bionce Foxx (V103) are co-hosting the charity event, with a live performance by the House of Chi, a premier live music show. Attendees, who are to be at least 21 years of age, will be served complimentary food and beverages. Some of the organizations that have benefited in the past include Woodlawn East & Community Neighbor, Clara’s House, Grand Families, PLCCA, Lighthouse Youth Center, Near North Health Service Corporation, Pacific Garden Mission, Ronald McDonald Children House, South Suburban PADS, and Windows of Opportunity. Now in its 26th year, the toy drive has become a marquee holiday event in Chicago, underscoring the 100 BMC’s commitment to uplifting those in need. A number of sponsors have joined the 100 BMC this year in supporting this important cause including title sponsor Enterprise Rental Car who have pledged to donate funds and 3,000 gifts; MolsonCoors, FedEx, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, BMOA, Wal-Mart and CIBC are among sponsors that are partnering to support to those most in need, furthering the organization’s mission to foster positive change within the community. Funds raised to support this act of community kindness and engagement will be used to purchase additional gifts and personal items for homeless shelters and community
Living His Legacy: The Late Oscar Wright’s “Village”
Vows to Inherit Activist’s Commitment to Education
By Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media Education activists mourning Oscar Carl Wright’s death, have pledged to continue his lifelong mission of advocating for equity for Black students and families in Northern California.
Wright, 101, who passed away on Nov. 18, was still involved in Oakland’s educational affairs until his death.
Now, friends and admirers acknowledge that carrying on his legacy means doubling down on the unfinished work that Wright dedicated his life, time, and resources to, according to Y’Anad Burrell, a family friend and founder of San Francisco-based Glass House Communications (GHC).
“Mr. Wright did a lot of work around equity, specifically, for Black students based on their needs -whether it was tutoring, passing classes, or graduating,” Burrell said.
Wright became an outspoken champion for his children’s education, recognizing the disparities between their school experiences and his own upbringing in the Mississippi Delta.
Burrell told California Black Media (CBM) that the crisis of unequal access to resources and a quality education continues to affect the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD).
According to Oakland Reach, in the city of Oakland,
only 3 in 10 Black and Brown students are reading at or above grade level. In addition, only 1 in 10 are doing math at or above grade level.
Oakland REACH is a parent-run, parent-led organization. It aims to empowers families from the most underserved communities to demand high-quality schools for their children.
Wright’s work as an activist had impact across the state but he was primarily known in the Bay Area. He started attending OUSD board meetings in the 1980s, becoming a staunch advocate for education reform. Alongside the Black United Front for Educational Reform (BUFER), he filed a complaint against OUSD for violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
In 2000, the OSUD school board proposed an action plan to address educational inequity, but it was never implemented.
Wright later founded the African American Honor Roll Celebration at Acts Full Gospel Church, an award that recognizes Black students with a grade point average of 3.0 or better. Each year, more than 1,000 students are honored at this ceremony.
Kingmakers of Oakland (KOO), a nonprofit organization that works to improve educational and life outcomes for Black boys and men, stated that “Oscar Wright is one of the most prolific, consistent, and committed advocates of equity for Black students and
Black Families here in Oakland for the past six decades.” Burrell said that one of the main reasons Wright’s work was so essential for families and children in Oakland that is the direct relationship between acquiring a quality education and affording quality housing, maintaining food security, achieving mental wellness, and securing stable employment.
“All of that filters over into the end result of education,” Burrell said. “It’s a holistic approach.”
Wright was the child of sharecroppers from Coahoma County, Mississippi. He attended Alcorn State University, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). In the late 1950s, Wright and his family relocated to the Bay Area where he worked as a contractor and civil engineer. He later became an active member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Burrell said the people who will carry on Wright’s work are part of a “village” that includes KOO’s CEO Chris Chatmon. Wright was a mentor to Chatmon.
“It will not be one entity, one person, or one organization that picks up the baton because it was a village effort that worked alongside Mr. Wright for all these years,” Burrell said.
Burell says that legacy will live on.
Credit Card Swipe Fees Are Financial Inequities for Black America
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.
are left to foot the bill for the flights and perks of those who are considerably more affluent. Black Americans are less likely to hold credit cards — 72% ownership compared to 88% for White Americans — and often face higher interest rates. 58% of Black
Americans have more credit card debt than emergency savings, compared to 30% of White Americans. Black college graduates carry $25,000 more in student loan debt than their White counterparts, which can further harm their credit scores and financial stability. It’s a painful irony: Black Americans, who are systematically excluded from wealth-building tools, end up paying more to access the same basic financial services. These financial pressures make it hard to escape revolving debt, and harder still to enjoy the rewards that banks offer. The promise of “free” rewards from swipe fees is an illusion for those who can barely afford to pay down their balance every month. While swipe fees aren’t solely responsible for racial wealth disparities, they compound existing financial burdens, making it even harder for Black families to build savings and financial security.
Black Americans are far from the only group that would benefit from comprehensive swipe fees reform: Small business owners and advocates across the country have been sounding the alarm and leading the calls. For small merchants, swipe fees are often their second-highest monthly cost after labor. These businesses — which operate on razor-thin profit margins — are forced to raise prices to stay afloat. The average American family pays more than $1,100 a year in higher prices due to these fees. The current swipe fee structure exists because the VisaMastercard duopoly controls 90% of the U.S. credit card processing market, allowing them to set and increase rates
for merchants while blocking out competitors.
Swipe fee reform isn’t radical; it’s about fair competition and a level playing field. The Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) — a bipartisan bill being considered in Congress — aims to introduce competition into this marketplace by requiring at least two competing processing networks on each credit card. This could save American consumers and businesses an estimated $15 billion annually.
The CCCA won’t end rewards programs — only the banks that offer them can decide that. In fact, a recent study found that the CCCA would have little to no impact on rewards. What the bill would do is end a broken system that preys on those with the least and benefits those with the most.
Reducing swipe fees through pro-competition reform won’t undo generations of economic inequality, but it’s a step toward dismantling one of the structures that reinforce it. A fairer financial landscape benefits everyone, not just those most impacted — and Black Americans have paid more to receive less for too long. It’s time for that to change. An inequality anywhere is a threat to equality everywhere.
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. is President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) representing the Black Press of America and Executive Producer of The Chavis Chronicles on PBS TV Network.
Dr. Chavis can be reached at dr.bchavis@nnpa.org.
The 100 Black Men of Chicago, Inc., a non-profit organization, will host their 26th Annual Holiday Toy Drive on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024, from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency Grand Ballroom, located at 151 E. Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60601. Tickets are available via Ticket Falcon.
Oscar Carl Wright’s 101 years old.
A Family’s Fight for Justice After a Daughter’s Attempted Suicide
The New York Beacon When 14-year-old Kelaia Turner looks out the window of her South Carolina home, she does so with the assistance of her family, who provide round-the-clock care following a harrowing incident of bullying and a suicide attempt that changed their lives forever. What began as taunts over her natural hair spiraled into a years-long ordeal, exposing the profound consequences of unchecked harassment in schools. Now, her family is suing the Greenville County School District, accusing it of negligence.
The bullying reportedly started in 2021 when Kelaia, then a sixth grader at Dr. Phinnize J. Fisher Middle School, chose to embrace her natural hair. According to the lawsuit filed by her parents, students hurled slurs like “roach” and “mustache face,” comments that escalated into a campaign of ridicule. Despite numerous complaints lodged by her mother, Ty Turner, the family alleges that the school dismissed their concerns. “I reached out at least seven or nine times,” said Turner in an interview. “They either didn’t respond or did nothing meaningful to address the situation.”
The breaking point came in March 2023, when Kelaia shared thoughts of suicide with a friend. Just five days
later, her mother discovered her hanging in her bedroom. Paramedics resuscitated her after she was clinically dead for eight minutes. Kelaia spent over three months in the hospital, including 31 days in intensive care, but emerged profoundly disabled. She now relies on a tracheostomy tube, a feeding tube, and remains nonverbal, requiring fulltime care.
Adding to the family’s anguish, one of the alleged bullies reportedly visited Kelaia in the ICU, took photos of her unconscious state, and posted them on social media. “It was devastating,” said Ty Turner, who describes her daughter as a survivor but laments the loss of the vibrant, independent child she once knew. The school district, while extending sympathy, has denied any wrongdoing, stating they conducted investigations at the time of each complaint. The Turners have since launched a GoFundMe campaign to cover Kelaia’s extensive medical and special care needs. As they fight their legal battle, the family hopes to shine a light on the systemic failures that they believe contributed to Kelaia’s tragedy. “Words do hurt,” said Turner. “And ignoring those words can have unimaginable consequences.”
Patients Couldn’t Pay Their Utility Bills. One Hospital Turned to Solar Power for Help.
By Martha Bebinger WBUR
Anna Goldman, a primary care physician at Boston Medical Center, got tired of hearing that her patients couldn’t afford the electricity needed to run breathing assistance machines, recharge wheelchairs, turn on air conditioning, or keep their refrigerators plugged in. So she worked with her hospital on a solution.
The result is a pilot effort called the Clean Power Prescription program. The initiative aims to help keep the lights on for roughly 80 patients with complex, chronic medical needs.
The program relies on 519 solar panels installed on the roof of one of the hospital’s office buildings. Half the energy generated by the panels helps power the medical center. The rest goes to patients who receive a monthly credit of about $50 on their utility bills.
Kiki Polk was among the first recipients. She has a history of Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.
On a warm fall day, Polk, who was nine months pregnant at the time, leaned into the air conditioning window unit in her living room.
“Oh my gosh, this feels so good, baby,” Polk crooned, swaying back and forth. “This is my best friend and my worst enemy.” An enemy, because Polk can’t afford to run the AC. On cooler days, she has used a fan or opened a window instead. Polk knew the risks of overheating during pregnancy, including added stress on the pregnant person’s heart and potential risks to the fetus. She also has a teenage daughter who uses the AC in her bedroom — too much, according to her mom.
Polk got behind on her utility bill. Eversource, her
electricity provider, worked with her on a payment plan.
But the bills were still high for Polk, who works as a school bus and lunchroom monitor. She was surprised when staff at Boston Medical Center, where she was a patient, offered to help.
“I always think they’re only there for, you know, medical stuff,” Polk said, “not the personal financial stuff.”
Polk is on maternity leave now to care for her baby, the tiny Briana Moore. Goldman, who is also BMC’s medical director of climate and sustainability, said hospital screening questionnaires show thousands of patients like Polk struggle to pay their utility bills.
“I had a conversation recently with someone who had a hospital bed at home,” Goldman said. “They were using so much energy because of the hospital bed that they were facing a utility shut-off.”
Goldman wrote a letter to the utility company requesting that the power stay on. Last year, she and her colleagues at Boston Medical Center wrote 1,674 letters to utility companies asking them to keep patients’ gas or electricity running. Goldman took that number to Bob Biggio, the hospital’s chief sustainability and real estate officer. He’d been counting on the solar panels to help the hospital shift to renewable energy, but sharing the power with patients felt as if it fit the health system’s mission.
“Boston Medical Center’s been focused on lowerincome communities and trying to change their health outcomes for over 100 years,” Biggio said. “So this just seemed like the right thing to do.”
Standing on the roof amid the solar panels, Goldman pointed out a large vegetable garden one floor down.
“We’re actually growing food for our patients,” she
Health Equity at the federal Department of Health and Human Services, said these are common problems for lowand moderate-income patients. BMC’s approach to solving them may be the first of its kind, she said.
“To be able to connect those very patients with clean, renewable energy in such a way that reduces their utility bills is really groundbreaking,” Bole said.
Bole is using a case study on the solar credits program to show other hospitals how they might do something similar. Boston Medical Center officials estimate the project cost $1.6 million, and said 60% of the funding came from the federal Inflation Reduction Act. Biggio has already mapped plans for an additional $11 million in solar installations.
“Our goal is to scale this pilot and help a lot more patients,” he said.
The expansion he envisions would allow a tenfold increase in patients who could be served by the program, but it still would not meet the demand. For now, each patient in the pilot program receives assistance for just one year. Boston Medical Center is looking for partners who might want to share their solar energy with the hospital’s patients in exchange for a higher federal tax credit or reimbursement.
said. “And, similarly, now we are producing electricity for our patients as a way to address all of the factors that can contribute to health outcomes.”
Many hospitals help patients sign up for electricity or heating assistance because research shows that not having them increases respiratory problems, mental distress and makes it harder to sleep. Aparna Bole, a pediatrician and senior consultant in the Office of Climate Change and
Eversource’s vice president for energy efficiency, Tilak Subrahmanian, said the pilot was a complex project to launch, but now that it’s in place, it could be expanded.
“If other institutions are willing to step up, we’ll figure it out,” Subrahmanian said, “because there is such a need.” This article is from a partnership that includes WBUR, NPR, and KFF Health News.
7 Questions for Outgoing
Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln
By Edward Henderson
California Black Media
Born in Stockton, Mayor Kevin Lincoln says his Army upbringing was one factor that inspired him to serve others.
Lincoln joined the United States Marine Corps in 2001 and was later recruited by the White House Military Office and assigned to Marine One, serving during President George W. Bush’s administration. Following his military service, Lincoln worked for one of the nation’s top private security companies for eight years in Silicon Valley. In 2013, he resigned his corporate position to give back to his community in Stockton through full-time ministry at a local church.
Lincoln’s decision to run for mayor stemmed from this love of people, and desire to serve the city of his birth. He prioritized resolving issues including homelessness, public safety, civic engagement, and economic development, among others during his tenure.
Lincoln, a Republican, will transition out of his role as Mayor on Dec. 31, after an unsuccessful campaign to represent the 9th Congressional District. Recently, California Black Media (CBM) spoke with Lincoln. He reflected on his accomplishments this year and his goals moving forward. Responses have been edited for length and clarity. Looking back at 2024, what stands out to you as your most important achievement and why?
What I prioritize for our city council is our youth. They are the future -- not only our city, but this region as a whole.
We were able to invest over $6 million in youth programming and workforce development, and partner with 14 different community-based organizations. We were able to employ over 600 young people through the city of Stockton. We launched even our first ever summer jobs program for the city of Stockton. We hired 100 young people through the summer to work specifically for the city. And, eventually, we were able to permanently hire over 25 of those students. How did your leadership and investments contribute to improving the lives of Black Californians?
It’s about giving people a seat at the table, and not necessarily waiting for people to come to me, but me going to the community, making myself accessible, meeting our community at the point of their need, where they’re at. As representatives, that’s where we’re at our finest and our best is when we’re taking that approach. But leadership is key. What frustrated you the most over the last year?
It’s politics. Because unfortunately, there’s politics in everything. And I say politics impedes progress. You can have a policy, a solution that may not necessarily be 100% perfect. But it’s a good solution for everybody. But because we allow politics to get in the way based off our personal ideologies, oftentimes we can miss opportunities to make an impact for the benefit of the whole. You have to be willing to make certain compromises, without compromising your values. You have to make compromises for the good of everybody. What inspired you the most over the last year?
My biggest inspiration has been the community and our ability to work together. What’s unique about Stockton, one in 20 jobs are nonprofit jobs in the city of Stockton and even San Joaquin County. Those jobs are meeting some of the most fundamental needs socially and economically throughout the community, and we’ve proven that, we can be very
Kevin Lincoln, outgoing mayor of Stockton, CA, captured during his tenure as a leader dedicated to the city’s progress and community engagement.
The solar array on the rooftop of the Boston Medical Center administration building provides power for the building as well as credits for the facility’s Clean Power Prescription program. (JESSE COSTA/WBUR)
Kiki Polk, one of the first Boston Medical Center patients to enroll in the Clean Power Prescription program, turns on the air conditioner in her home in the city’s Dorchester neighborhood. (JESSE COSTA/WBUR)
Food grown in the rooftop gardens at Boston Medical Center helps feed patients.(JESSE COSTA/ WBUR)
Advocates Demand Action on Reparations During Gov’s Special Legislative Session
By Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media
A coalition of community leaders and reparations advocates are demanding that the California legislature, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and Gov. Gavin Newsom act decisively on reparations bills that have stalled in the Legislature.
They are calling on the state leaders to pass the bills during the special legislative session the Governor called this month to secure up to $25 million for California “to defend against unconstitutional or unlawful federal government actions” expected during the incoming Trump administration.
The advocates are also urging that the push for reparations for Californians who are descendants of enslaved Black people in the United States continues next year during the regular session, which begins when the Legislature convenes on Jan. 6, 2025.
“California has a proud history of leading difficult change in America from environmental policies to safety standards to same-sex marriages and the like,” said Tullus Miller, a Bay Area financial services executive. Miller was speaking during an engagement held Dec. 2 on the grounds of the State Capitol with the California Native American Monument as the backdrop.
The California Native American Monument, erected in November 2023, is the only Native American memorial at the California State Capitol.
“Our state is at the forefront of social and economic reforms. “We always set standards,” continued Miller, insisting that the state should not take its mind off reparative justice while it defends itself from other concerns. Los Angeles-based attorney and reparations advocate Cheryce Cryer explained the purpose of the event.
“I’m here today, to bring attention to the needs of Black Americans and the need for our legal and social protections as the special legislative session convenes,” Cryer said.
In addition to Miller and Cryer, other speakers at the event were Dr. Booker Cook, Ethnics Studies professor at the California State University, Sacramento (CSU-
2024 in Review:
Sacramento) and Khansa “Friday” Jones Muhammad, Vice President of the Los Angeles Reparations Advisory Commission.
The news conference coincided with the swearing-in of lawmakers who won races in the November election.
The leaders outlined a list of demands, including reintroducing two reparations bills that were not brought to the Assembly floor for a vote at the end of the last legislative session in August.
During the special session and regular session, the group called for the re-introduction of reparations legislation that did not get a vote in the last legislative season, a distribution of the final California Reparations Task Force Report to schools and libraries, and the establishment of a defense fund to support implementation and legal defense of the reparations report and associated bills.
“Today, that Freedmen’s Bureau (bill) needs to be reestablished,” Cook said. “The work is done. The history is there, and the proof is there. There should be no more arguments and no more debates. Why would you build a house and not let anyone live there?”
Authored by former Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood), Senate Bill (SB) 1403 and SB 1330 stalled in the Assembly in September, triggering backlash from reparations supporters across the country.
Leadership of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) said they agreed not to support bringing forth Bradford’s bills due to procedural and funding concerns. However, the CLBC was able to secure $12 million in next year’s budget to continue work on reparations legislation.
SB 1403 proposes the establishment of the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency to recommend a course of action for compensating Black Californians who are descendants of enslaved people.
SB 1331 would have created the Fund for Reparations and Reparative Justice in the State Treasury to fund policies approved by the Legislature and Governor. Advocates of the bills believed that the two bills were essential to moving the reparations discussion forward for the first time since the end of slavery.
“California has been leading the nation in reparations
discussions,” Jones-Muhammad said. “The advocates in this space have spent five years doing the impossible and working with the Legislature to bring foundational reparations policies through the Senate and Assembly Appropriations.”
The CLBC starts the 2024-2025 legislative session with new leadership. Sen. Akilah Weber (D-La Mesa) serves as the chairperson, while Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Ladera Heights) is the vice chair.
On Sept. 26, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a series of reparations bills by the CLBC addressing the legacy of racial discrimination in the state and prioritizing a number of issues important to Black Californians.
On Aug. 31, the CLBC released a statement explaining its reasoning for not moving forward with the bills and outlining its intentions for the future.
“We remain committed to our long-term goals and recognize that this is a multi-year effort,” the CLBC stated.
“We will not be distracted from our mission. We will stay focused on the work at hand, united in our purpose, and dedicated to the cause of reparations and equity for all. The CLBC will continue to lead with integrity and purpose, ensuring that our legislative efforts are impactful and meaningful for the communities we serve,” the statement concluded.
For starters, Bryan introduced Assembly Bill (AB) 7 on Dec. 3, a new reparations bill that would provide priority admission for descendants of slaves at CSU and the University of California (UC) campuses.
“As the new Vice-Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus we will continue to fight for what is just,” Bryan stated on the X platform the same day.
During the gathering at the California State Capitol, the reparations supporters said they were willing to work with both Democrat and Republican legislators to realize reparations for Black Californians.
They also offered to reach out to supporters, grassroots organizations, and lawmakers to broaden support for the passage and implementation of reparations bills in the state.
7 Questions for Cal-Hi NAACP President Rick Callender
Under his leadership, Cal-HI NAACP operates 74 branches and youth units across the state to push initiatives focused on racial justice and equality.
Jim Crow. We cannot afford to get rid of the Department of Education. We cannot get rid of the Department of Justice. Those things were founded to protect our community.
What frustrated you the most over the last year?
In addition to his work with the NAACP, Callender is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Valley Water in San Jose. In that role, he oversees an integrated water resources system with functions that include managing the supply of clean, safe water; instituting flood protections; and handling environmental stewardship of waterways for Santa Clara County’s 1.9 million residents.
Recently, California Black Media (CBM) interviewed Callender. He reflected on the organization’s accomplishments, challenges they have faced, lessons learned this year, and goals moving forward.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Looking back at 2024, what stands out to you as your most important achievement and why?
One of the things I’m most proud of is the support of policy changes related to the Ebony Alert, which went into place this year. That legislation ensured that Black girls and missing Black women would have their own alert. Often, when they go missing you don’t hear about it for weeks later. Unfortunately, if you don’t have blonde hair and blue eyes, you’re not going to hear about it for weeks later.
Also, before the November elections, the NAACP mobilized through phone banking, text messages, walking to doors and sending out mail with voting information to 250,000 African Americans.
How did your leadership and investments contribute to improving the lives of Black Californians?
It’s not my leadership, it’s the NAACP’s leadership. We’ve helped with legal consultations. Often, when you have something that occurs to you, some people can’t afford a legal consultation. We’ve cleared that hurdle for folks, so they don’t have to worry about the fee.
We’ve also raised the profile of young Black girls, young Black boys that have gone missing. We’ve also made efforts to educate and motivate 250,000 African Americans about the policies of Project 2025. We cannot go back to
The pullback of a commitment to our community and the pullback from corporations on financing DEI initiatives, equity and civil rights. People have tried to make DEI sound like a salacious word. When you see these funds disappear, it’s because people erroneously think that they promote racism.
What inspired you the most over the last year?
The resilience and the determination of our youth. The youth have always led -- not only the civil rights movement -- but they have been the ones who will always be willing to step up.
Our Stockton Youth Council won the Youth Council for the Year, dealing with the College of Race and Justice Center of Innovation. And they also won the Juanita Mitchell Youth Gala Award.
It’s seeing a new Black leadership step up and being able to continue to fight. What is one lesson you learned in 2024 that will inform your decision-making next year?
This is one thing: we can’t get distracted. We have to stay focused on what’s there.
We can’t be out here talking about Black folks eating dogs and cats. We need to really be focused on Project 2025 and talking about what’s there. We don’t want folks to be like, oh, y’all are racist. Let’s stay laser-focused on what we need to be done. In one word, what is the biggest challenge Black Californians face?
Equity. Put anything in front of the word equity, and that’s what we face, from educational equity, criminal justice equity. Equity as it deals with economics. And just being able to make sure that we have the access to do what we need to do. What is the goal you want to achieve most in 2025?
Staying focused on organizing around elections – and winning.
Supporters of reparations in California held a news conference in front of California Native American Monument on Dec. 2. Pictured here (from left to right) are: Tullus Miller, a Bay Area financial services executive; Los Angeles-based attorney Cheryce Cryer; Dr. Booker Cook, Ethnics Studies professor at California State University, Sacramento (CSU-Sacramento); and Khansa “Friday” Jones-Muhammad, vice president of the Los Angeles Reparations Advisory Commission. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.
Rick L. Callender, Esq., President of the NAACP CA-Hawaii, addressing attendees at the state convention, October 2024. Photo by Rich Woods.
By Edward Henderson California Black Media
Rick L. Callender holds multiple influential roles. He
is the President of the California/Hawaii State Conference of the NAACP (Cal-HI NAACP) and serves on the National NAACP Board of Directors.