Brittney Griner Detained in Russia as Mercury Opens Season Page A3
California Gas Prices to Spike Even More With July 1 Tax Increase Page A10
News Observer Los Angeles
Volume 37 Number 26
Serving Los Angeles County for Over 37 Years
Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California
Karine Jean-Pierre Selected as
First Black Woman White House Press Secretary “Karine not only brings the experience, talent, and integrity needed for this difficult job, but she will continue to lead the way in communicating about the work of the Biden-Harris Administration on behalf of the American people,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.
White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Dream Fund: Entrepreneurs Can Apply for $10,000 Grants Through $35M State Program
By Tanu Henry California Black Media Since 2017, there has been a 9.8% increase of new small businesses – firms with less than 500 employees -- in the United States. Over the past two years alone, over 10 million applications were submitted to start new small businesses across the country, according to the Small Business Administration. That growth trend is true for California, too, where there are about 4.1 million small businesses, the most in the country. Those companies make up 99.8% of all business in California and employ about 7.2 million people. But for Blackowned and other minority owned small businesses across the country, there was a steep decline in numbers, almost 41%, due to the pandemic, a Census Po p u l a t i o n Survey found Everett Sands, CEO Lendistry (Courtesy Photo)
Thursday, May 12, 2022
Anonymous Donor Pays Tab for East Texas College Graduates
MARSHALL, Texas (AP) – Students graduating from a historically Black college in East Texas were told at their commencement ceremony that an anonymous donor had paid their balances, officials said. Wiley College said in a news release that over 100 students were gathered for graduation Saturday when the school’s president made the announcement. “We are constantly communicating with donors to assist students in these ways so that they can begin their after-college experience with less debt,” Herman J. Felton Jr., Wiley’s president and CEO, said in the news release. The college said in the news release that the estimated total for the balances owed to the college by the graduating class of 2022 was about $300,000. The 2007 movie “The Great Debaters” starring Denzel Washington was inspired by debate in 1935 in which Wiley prevailed over the University of Southern California’s nationally-known, powerhouse team at a time when the nation was heavily segregated.
Alabama Judge Refuses Dismissal in Confederate Chair Theft
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent Karine Jean-Pierre, whose long career in Democratic communications led her to the podium last year as the second Black woman to hold a White House daily briefing, will regularly host those news conferences. On Thursday, May 5, President Joe Biden announced that he has selected the Martinique native as his next White House press secretary. “Karine not only brings the experience, talent, and integrity needed for this difficult job, but she will continue to lead the way in communicating about the work of the Biden-Harris Administration on behalf of the American people,” Biden said in a statement. He added that outgoing press secretary Jen Psaki set the standard for returning decency, respect, and decorum to the White House Briefing Room. Meanwhile, the historic nature of the appointment wasn’t lost on the President and others. “Karine is a lifelong public servant and fierce LGBTQ advocate,” said Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Institute. When Jean-Pierre steps to the podium on May 13, she’ll become the first Black woman and first openly gay person to hold that job. “We are proud to have advocated for her historic nomination. As White House press secretary, she will not only be able to use her podium to represent the Biden administration but also the LGBTQ community during a time of unprecedented anti-LGBTQ hate and attacks,” Parker stated. “As the first out LGBTQ person and the first Black person to hold this office, her appointment will inspire countless young people looking for hope and motivation during a dark chapter in our nation’s history,” Parker continued. “Shattering this lavender ceiling is a testament to Karine’s grit, power, and commitment to our country’s potential. We are confident she will continue to be a strong ally and partner as she works in the highest office of the land.” Psaki described Jean-Pierre as passionate. Continued on page A6
Take One!
in 2020. During that same time, nearly 44% of minority-owned small businesses were at risk of shutting down, a Small Business Majority report found. Although a number of reports suggest that the outlook has begun to be more positive as the U.S. economy continues bounce back defying the odds, and many Black businessowners have also become more optimistic, access to credit and technical support remain a challenge for many who had to dip into their own finances to keep their lights on. Recognizing the outsized contribution small businesses make to the health of the California economy and the hit many of the smallest of small business have taken during the pandemic, the California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA) has been making grants of up to $25,000 to small business in the state. In its latest round of funding called the Dream Fund, which is now accepting applications on a rolling basis, CalOSBA has partnered with Lendistry, a Los Angeles-based, minority-led small business and commercial real estate lender to administer the $35 million grant portion of its program. The fund provides $10,000 to each small business that qualifies. To become eligible, California-based small businessowners will have to complete training at one of the centers run by the state’s Technical Assistance Expansion Program (TAEP) and receive a certificate. “For the millions of Californians that have dreams of owning their own business, this grant coupled with one-on-one counseling and business expertise from hundreds of counselors at our eighty-seven Technical Assistance Centers, has the power to jumpstart their dreams,” says Tara Lynn Gray, Director of CalOSBA. Jay King, President and CEO of the Sacramento-based
California Black Chamber of Commerce, says he applauds Gov. Newsom for understanding the historic systemic challenges minority businesses face and for “doing something about it.” But giving Black businesses grants are not a “cure-all,” he says. “It is like putting a band aid on a bullet wound, if we don’t do more to really fix the problems small businesses face,” King explains. “Ninety six percent of Black businesses are mini or micro that means they make less than $100,000 or less than $35,000 a year, respectively,” King continued. “Only 4 % of our business earn more than $100,000 annually. We have to put more resources and technical support around these businesses.” King says informing Black businessowners about opportunities like the Dream Fund and making sure they know how to apply for or access the funding is critical to making sure the people who need the help gets it. “You have to get down into our communities,” he said. “You have to reach people through groups that are plugged into our communities to get the word out. We do not hear about these kinds of programs enough. We definitely don’t benefit from them enough.” Everett K. Sands, the CEO of Lendistry, says he is excited to help California new businesses access the capital they need to “begin on their journeys. “Over the past two years, almost 10 million new businesses have been created in the U.S.,” he says. “With record numbers of new small businesses entering the marketplace, many of which are owned by women and minorities, programs like California Dream Fund pave the way for a more robust and equitable economy as these new businesses make the leap from employing just their founders to employing their communities.”
SELMA, Ala. (AP) – An Alabama judge has refused to dismiss an indictment against a New Orleans tattoo artist accused in a bizarre theft in which a chair-shaped Confederate monument was taken from a cemetery and held for ransom. Dallas County Circuit Judge Collins Pettaway Jr. refused to dismiss charges of theft and receiving stolen property against Jason Warnick, 33, in a brief decision released Thursday. The judge rejected defense claims that there were problems with the indictment charging Warnick in the disappearance last year of a chair-shaped monument to Confederate President Jefferson Davis from 200-year-old Live Oak Cemetery in Selma. Warnick also claimed there wasn’t enough evidence to arrest him, but the judge refused to dismiss the charge. Warnick was set to go on trial on Monday, but Pettaway delayed the case and scheduled a hearing for June 16. Placed at the cemetery in 1893 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the chair vanished from its base last year in Selma, which was a Confederate arsenal during the Civil War and also is widely known as the site of voting rights demonstrations by Black activists in the 1960s. An email claiming to be from a group called White Lies Matter claimed responsibility and said the chair would be returned only if the United Daughters of the Confederacy agreed to display a banner at its Virginia headquarters bearing a quote from a Black Liberation Army activist. The email also included images of a fake chair with a hole cut in the seat like a toilet and a man dressed in Confederate garb. Authorities who arrested Warnick said the real chair was spotted at his tattoo parlor in New Orleans, where he was charged with receiving stolen property before the case was dismissed. Warnick is innocent and had never been to Selma before he went to the city to surrender on the theft charge, the defense argues. The chair, which the United Daughters of the Confederacy valued at $500,000, was returned to the cemetery and glued to its base.
William & Mary Dedicates Memorial to Enslaved
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) – William & Mary has dedicated a brick memorial that recognizes people who were enslaved by the university. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports the memorial is 20 feet high and 16 feet wide. It cost more than $2.9 million to build, including construction and material costs that were impacted by supply chain delays and construction inflation. The university was chartered in 1693. It benefited from enslaved labor for 170 years. It’s unclear how many people the university enslaved, but historians have discovered the names of more than 100 people owned by the college or its employees and students. Enslaved people made the bricks that built the Wren Building, and they erected the building itself. “Slaves were as inseparable a part of the college as the old bricks of the College Building itself,” Jennifer Oast wrote in a book about slavery in Virginia. The design for the memorial, created by Richmond-based architectural firm Baskervill, was chosen in 2020. Richmondbased Kjellstrom & Lee built the memorial. Its cost was covered by private funds and contributions from the board of visitors.
Fred Savage Dropped from ‘The Wonder Years’ Amid Allegations
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Fred Savage has been dropped as an executive producer and director of the rebooted “The Wonder Years” amid allegations of inappropriate conduct, the television show’s production company has confirmed. “Recently, we were made aware of allegations of inappropriate conduct by Fred Savage, and as is policy, an investigation was launched. Upon its completion, the decision was made to terminate his employment as an executive producer and director of ‘The Wonder Years,’” a statement Saturday from 20th Television said. 20th Television did not immediately provide any additional details. A spokesperson for Savage did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Savage, 45, was a child star when he appeared in the original series, which ran on ABC from 1988-93 and followed a suburban white family in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A new version of the show, which features Don Cheadle as the narrator, premiered last fall. The new series revolves around a Black family living in Montgomery, Alabama, in the late 1960s.