NeNe Leakes Sues Saying Racism Accepted on ‘Real Housewives’ Page A3
States Only Black Female D.A. Solves Decades-Old Cold Case Page A6
News Observer Los Angeles
Volume 37 Number 24
Serving Los Angeles County for Over 37 Years
Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California
The Return of French Quarter Festival in New Orleans By Ricky Richardson Contributing Writer (New Orleans, LA.)- After being holed up inside for the last couple of years, I’m like most people who experienced some degree of cabin fever. The Spring season is upon us, with its cooler weather and longer days. This is the perfect time to get out and about to explore your local community or venture outside of your state. I was overjoyed with excitement to join hundreds of thousands of tourists from across the United States, along with international visitors to New Orleans. We were beckoned to the Crescent City for a weekend of fun as we continued on our journey forward to a semblance of normalcy. New Orleans is a city known globally for its fabulous cuisine, great music scene and for offering a great cultural experience. The French Quarter Festival presented by Chevron is what summoned me, music aficionados and foodies to New Orleans, April 21-24, 2022. Bon Temps-Feed Your Soul! The French Quarter Festival presented by Chevron returned after a hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic. Boasting twenty stages, fest goers were able to immerse themselves into the full spectrum of music genres presented at the French Quarter Festival presented by Chevron: traditional jazz, jazz, R&B, hip-hop, New Orleans funk, brass bands, folk, gospel, Latin Jazz, Cajun and Zydeco and more. French Quarter Festival presented by Chevron offered the best of both worlds, good food, music and vibes. There was a smorgasbord of restaurants on site to satisfy a multitude of taste buds to top off your cultural experience. The French Quarter Festival Culinary Lineup, sponsored by Broussard’s Restaurant & Courtyard, returned with some classics New Orleans dishes as well as new takes on the classic items that can only be found at the Fest. The festival got underway with the Opening 2nd Line Parade. The parade ventured through the French Quarter, from Bourbon Street to St. Ann, and over to Jackson Square. The parade was led by the 504 Krewe, with Darryl Young, aka, Dancing Man 504. Participants strolled on Bourbon Street with French Quarter festival officials, volunteers, Grand Marshals, several brass bandsNew Birth Brass Band, New Wave Brass Band and TBC Brass Band. The festival was made possible by the generous support of sponsors who also paraded with their staff, KREWE as they say in the Crescent City. The Opening Ceremony followed the parade in Jackson Square on the GE Stage. The Honorable Billy Nungesser Lieutenant Governor, State of Louisiana, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, Emily Madero, President & CEO of French Quarter Festivals, Inc., Barrett Cooper,
Thursday, April 28, 2022
Body of Boy Found in Indiana was Inside Suitcase
SELLERSBURG, Ind. (AP) – The body of a young boy found over the weekend in southern Indiana was contained inside a hard suitcase, state police said Tuesday. The suitcase has a distinctive Las Vegas design on its front and back, Sgt. Carey Huls said. A Washington County resident hunting mushrooms found the body around 7:30 p.m. Saturday, police said. The body was located in a heavily wooded area of eastern Washington County. A toll-free tip line in the case was established on Monday and has generated about 200 calls, but none of the calls have led to the identification of the boy, Huls said. An autopsy on the boy was conducted on Tuesday but no information as to the cause of death was determined, Huls said. Based on information provided by the autopsy, investigators believe the child was about 5 years old, Huls said. He was previously described as between the ages of 5 and 8 years old. He was Black, about 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall, with a slender build and short haircut. He is believed to have died sometime within the past week. Police say anybody with information on the boy should call 1-888-437-6432.
Sharpton to Give Eulogy for Patrick Lyoya, Shot by Police
The Dixie Cups (Photo: Ricky Richardson)
Irma Thomas (Photo: Ricky Richardson)
Rickie Lee Jones (Photo: Ricky Richardson)
Board Member, French Quarter Festival, Inc. and Leah Brown, Public Affairs Manager Chevron Gulf of Mexico welcome the large crowd in attendance for the first day of the festival. In a published statement, Leah Brown said, “Even though the event itself has been on hiatus the last
two years, Chevron’s support of French Quarter Festival has never wavered.” She continued “together, we funded local musicians and the gig community during COVID’s most difficult days. Now, we’re more excited than ever to Continued on page A5
Celebrating Earth Day, Focus on Water and Pollution
Aldon Thomas Stiles California Black Media Last week, people around the world celebrated Earth Week with commemorations and activities leading up to Earth Day, on Friday, April 22. Activists and advocates in California marked the annual event by highlighting the urgency of climate change and why, more than ever, communities of color need to be engaged and informed. “We’re already in a climate disaster,” said Simeon Gant, the African American Executive Director of Green Technical Education and Employment, an organization dedicated to getting young Black people more involved in environmental justice.” “We’ve got fire disasters every year, more than we’ve ever had,” said Gant. “People are dying, whole cities are being burned down in California and other places.” The state’s ongoing drought, now in its third year, is another major environmental concern. “Here in California, we are already seeing the effects of the climate crisis in the form of drought, record heat waves, and wildfires that have devastated entire communities,” said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-13). “As the United Nations and scientists around the world have made clear, we can still preserve a livable climate for future generations. But that window is closing fast,” Lee continued. “This year, we also must recognize that we are running out of time to save the planet for our children and grandchildren.” Gant agrees with Lee. “In the Central Valley, we’re having problems with water. Not just the fact that we’re in a drought but the little bit of water that even comes out of Central Valley is often contaminated,” Gant pointed out -- before he invoked Flint, Michigan and the water crisis that city experienced from 2014 to 2019. Gant says water contaminated by drilling for fossil fuels in California is preventable. On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced that the state will be contributing $22.5 million to mediating the effects of the drought. “With the climate crisis threatening communities across the West, we must double down on our work to build water resilience in our communities for the long haul,” said Newsom. “All of us must do our part to tackle the intensifying drought conditions felt across the state. We’re investing critical resources to battle the drought’s impacts on our communities and ecosystems and finding innovative solutions to deal with these new realities.” At the national level, Gina McCarthy, White House National Climate Advisor, told California Black Media that the Biden administration is committed to addressing issues of clean drinking water. “The bipartisan infrastructure law is going to be a way of investing in climate change and it’s also going to be a way of investing in the communities that have been left behind,” said McCarthy. “That means getting the lead out of the paint in homes, that means getting the lead out of our drinking water systems, that means investing in communities that don’t have safe
Take One!
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) – Funeral services have been scheduled for Patrick Lyoya, an unarmed Black man fatally shot following a traffic stop and struggle with a white police officer in western Michigan. The Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy Friday in Grand Rapids for Lyoya, according to Sharpton’s National Action Network and the office of attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Lyoya’s family. Services will begin at 11 a.m. at Renaissance Church of God in Christ in Grand Rapids. Lyoya, a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, was face-down on the ground April 4 when he was shot in the back of the head. Video footage released Wednesday by the police department showed the officer straddling Lyoya’s back at the time of the shooting. Video also showed the officer stopping Lyoya for driving with a license plate that didn’t belong to the vehicle, Lyoya’s attempt to run away before being tackled to the ground, and a struggle over the officer’s stun gun. The officer could be heard repeatedly ordering Lyoya to “let go’’ of his Taser, at one point demanding: “Drop the Taser!’’ Michigan State Police are investigating the shooting and the events that led up to it. Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom released the videos during a news conference. Citing department policy, Winstrom said he only would release the officer’s name if and when the officer is charged. Lyoya’s family and Crump have demanded that the city identify the officer. More than 100 people marched to Grand Rapids City Hall before a City Commission meeting last Tuesday night, chanting “Black lives matter’’ and “No justice, no peace.’’ Other protests also have been held in the city of about 200,000 people about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northwest of Detroit. Sharpton is founder and president of the National Action Network. The New York-based civil rights organization says it will help cover the costs of Friday’s funeral. Lyoya’s family asked Sharpton to deliver the eulogy, the group said.
Mississippi Set to Become Final State with Equal Pay Law
(Shutterstock Photo)
portable drinking water.” But water is not the only environmental issue facing Californians, says Gant. “In Los Angeles, they have oil pumps right in the hood,” Gant said. “It’s bad for the environment and bad for the air that we’re breathing.” There are 5,000 known, active oil or gas pumps in Los Angeles County. According to Gant, the oil industry’s impact on the environment is also being felt in the Bay Area. “In the Bay Area, in the Richmond area, where we have a whole community sitting next to an oil refinery that often has problems whether it’s catching fire or pollution and fumes that go from the oil refinery into the Richmond area,” said Gant. Gant also pointed to illegal dumping and freeways running through Black neighborhoods in California as causes for concern. According to McCarthy, the White House is committed to tackling environmental equity “to ensure that the communities left behind end up being the focus of investments moving forward.” McCarthy says equity is a part of President Biden’s “Justice40’’
initiative. The program commits 40% of the benefits from energy and climate investments to communities disproportionately affected by climate change. So far, McCarthy says, that effort has been worthwhile. “We have done everything we can, through guidance, through direction to states and local communities,” said McCarthy. However, Gant feels more needs to be done to ensure the investments being made impact the people they are intended to help. “They take that federal money, and they send it down to the local government and then they leave it up to local government to send it to the community-based organizations that are closer to the community,” said Gant. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t get from the local government to the community-based organizations in an effective way.” But, according to McCarthy, that is not solely the responsibility of the executive branch of the US federal government. “We’re also going to not give up on calling on Congress Continued on page A2
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi will become the final state with a law requiring equal pay for equal work by women and men. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed House Bill 770 on Wednesday, and it will become law July 1. A 1963 federal law requires equal pay for equal work, but Mississippi has the only state without its own law since Alabama enacted one in 2019. The Mississippi law says a lawsuit must be filed within two years of when a worker “knew or should have known’’ about pay discrepancies. If the pay discrimination lawsuit is successful, the employer would have to increase wages of the lower-paid worker rather than decrease wages of the higher-paid one, said House Judiciary A Committee Chairwoman Angela Cockerham, an independent from Magnolia who pushed for the legislation. The law says businesses with at least five employees must pay equal wages to women and men who work full-time jobs that require “equal skill, education, effort and responsibility” and that are done “under similar working conditions.’’ Several exceptions are allowed, including seniority, merit, quantity or quality of production and “any factor other than sex,” including salary history and whether there was competition to hire an employee. Cassandra Welchlin, leader of the Mississippi Black Women’s Roundtable, advocates for equal pay but said the new law is “harmful’’ because it would allow an employer to pay a woman less than a man based on the pay history that workers bring into new jobs. A 2017 report by the Mississippi University Research Center showed women earned 27% less than men for full-time work in Mississippi, compared to a 19% wage gap nationwide. The study said some of the gap could be explained by the types of jobs women and men were working, but the unexplained wage gap remained about 18% in Mississippi and about 15% nationwide.