The Impact of COVID-19 on HBCUs and Black Students
Run-DMC Icon Has Message for Louisville Elementary Students
Rally Marks Anniversary of ‘65 Voting March
News Observer – A6
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The Valley’s
Volume 37 Number 18
Serving Los Angeles County for Over 37 Years
Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California
Make Room, Gas and Food: Insurance Might Go Up, Too
(Shutterstock Photo)
Tanu Henry California Black Media As gas and food prices continue to shoot up at a rapid clip, Californians might be hit with sticker shock from another bill that skyrockets later this year: their health insurance premiums. According to officials at Covered California, monthly premiums for insurance coverage could jump by as much as 100% -- or an average of about $70 -- for more than 2 million Californians if federal government subsidies provided by the American Rescue Plan are allowed to expire at the end of 2022. A n estimated total of 14 million Americans could be affected by the price increase. “The American Plan built on the Affordable Care Act and provided more financial help than ever before to help people get covered and stay covered largely in response to the pandemic,” said Peter V. Lee, former Executive Director of Covered California. Lee was speaking during a press briefing held earlier this month to inform the public about what he sees as an impending crisis if the federal government does not take action. As a sidenote during that virtual meeting, Lee announced that he was stepping down from Covered California. In February, the agency’s Board of Directors announced Jessica Altman, former Commonwealth Insurance Commissioner of Pennsylvania, as Covered California’s
new Chief Executive Officer. Lee said funds the federal government currently provides to states to help lower health care premiums for Americans led to record numbers in enrollment across the country, including about 1.8 million new signups in California. The largest increases in enrollment in California were among African Americans and Latinos. About 90% of Covered California enrollees have received discounts on their premiums through the program. “The American Rescue Plan increased affordability by paying a bigger share of consumers’ monthly premiums. As a result, the portion that consumers pay dropped significantly by 23 % nationally and 20 % here in California,” said Lee. “Those are big drops. That meant that two-thirds of our consumers were eligible for a plan that cost $10 or less,” Lee continued. “For a lower income consumer, low cost is a critical ingredient for getting and keeping coverage.” Covered California is the Golden State’s federally subsidized public insurance marketplace where individuals and businesses can purchase health care plans. Lee said nearly $3 billion from the American Rescue plan allowed California to subsidize the insurance costs of more middle-income people. The eligibility window expanded to include Californians earning up to $52,000 as a single person or $106,000 as a family of four. Before help from the American Rescue Plan kicked in there were hundreds of thousands of Americans paying up to 30 % of their income for insurance, according to Covered California. If the federal supplement expires, “those who can least afford it would be hit the hardest,” warned lee. Lee says the program is helping more middle-income people than ever before. “In California today, about one out of 10 of our subsidized enrollees earn above 400% of the poverty level. They are getting financial help that is needed and Continued on page A2
Women’s History Month: California Org Honors Leaders, Discusses Priorities Charlene Muhammad California Black Media To mark Women’s History Month, The California Black Women’s Collective (CBWC) honored more than 100 Black women leaders from across the state from different professional backgrounds, including media executives, public health professionals, activists, politicians and more. The organization also held a series of panel discussions leading up to the celebration and highlighted several policy priorities, including aging and elder care. The Hon. Cheryl Brown, a retired California Assemblymember and a Commissioner on the California Commission on Aging said 23% of Black women live in poverty, which is the second highest percentage in the U.S. -- only behind Native American women. Brown pointed out that Gov. Gavin Newsom set aside $2 billion for the Master Plan on Aging, a 10-year project, but she questioned, how would the people the money is intended to help access the money. Brown said currently there are not effective systems in place to inform people about the help they need. The funds, she said, will funnel down through the California Department of Aging down to county agencies. “That’s why it’s critical to get involved on those levels,” Brown emphasized. Ahead of Women’s History Month, a group of influential California Black women brought their perspectives together last month in a virtual “fireside chat” to take a broader look at aging and elder care in the Black community. Whether they were expressing the joys of caring for a loved one or exposing the range of challenges Black women face as they age, the panelists shared useful insights that could shape public health policy or improve ways African American caregivers attend to the needs of aging family members. “This is our third event as part of the California Black women Empowerment series,” said Yvonne Wheeler, a member of the strategy team of the CBWC. The event was organized in partnership with Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA). “Our goal is to talk about the issues that are important to Black women in California and today the topic is ‘Black Women Aging With Dignity and Respect.’” During their remarks, panelists outlined resources Black women need to make sure that their needs are met while elevating some concerning statistics. “Black women in California have many barriers in their everyday life. As we get older, the issues don’t change. The issues just get more complicated,” said Regina Brown Wilson, moderator of the event and Executive Director of California Black Media.” “Before COVID-19, we were already experiencing financial hardship, poor health outcomes, and when the pandemic hit, older Black women were among the most vulnerable because of their circumstances, Wilson stated. “Approximately 80% of Black women are breadwinners who earn 40% of the household income. Seventy-four percent of Black women breadwinners are single mothers.” The panelists were Brown; Sylvia Drew Ivie, Special Advisor to the President, Charles R. Drew University; Delane Sims, Founder and CEO, Senior Moments; and Shavonda WebberChristmas, Community Benefits Program Manager at LA Care Health Plans. The women helped shed light on issues that Black women experience as they age in their older years. Webber-Christmas said it is critical to ensure that there are culturally competent providers helping Black women navigate resources available to them and to make sure that they are
Top L-R: Delane Sims, Hon. Cheryl Brown Bottom L-R Shavonda Webber-Christmas, Sylvia Drew Ivie (Screenshot)
practicing the self-care they need to maintain long, healthy lives. “If you’re missing food, your likelihood of being healthy is low. So, we do try to look at the whole person and not just medical needs when we talk about the services that we contract for, or services that we provide grants for. We want those to be holistic,” she said, highlighting some of the wraparound social services LA Care provides to the people it serves. “I think that when we talk about older women, we’re not talking about someone who just became that person,” WebberChristmas added. We’re talking about someone, if you look over the life course of the individual, it’s incremental. What we are doing today determines what we experience in later life.” Sims spoke about the experiences of Black women who live longer and the various challenges they face as caregivers. Her own father lived to be 115 years old, she shared. Sims said taking care of him became a challenge as his other caregivers aged. “It was daunting to say the least, to be sort of thrust into caregiving and not being prepared, but just feeling like it was something I absolutely needed to do to honor my mother and certainly my stepfather. But that is also one of the challenges,”
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said Sims. She encouraged Black women caregivers to seek emotional support, avoid missing meals, talk to someone and even join a support group. Brown said Black families must take a collective look at caring for their aging loved ones. “We have to look out for each other,” she said. “It has to be an inter-generational thing.” Kellie Todd Griffin, convenor of the CBWC said there is an emerging trend of communal living among Black single mothers. “They are buying homes together. Sharing in the costs of daycare and helping each other out. We have to be creative,” she said. Griffin said it is also important for Black women to organize. “We have got to raise our voices and knock on doors. When we show up at the Capitol and in those district offices, that’s when they start listening to us,” she pointed out. “It is important to show up to those town hall meetings that legislators have in their communities.”
Take One!
Thursday, March 17, 2022
Singer Traci Braxton of ‘Braxton Family Values’ Dies at 50 NEW YORK (AP) – Singer Traci Braxton, who was
featured with her family in the reality television series “Braxton Family Values,’’ died at age 50 on Saturday. Her sister, Toni, and family said that Braxton died “this morning as the snow was falling.’’ According to reports, Traci Braxton had been fighting esophageal cancer. “Needless to say, she was a bright light, a wonderful daughter, an amazing sister, a loving mother, wife, grandmother and a respected performer,’’ the family said. “We will miss her dearly.’’ “Braxton Family Values’’ aired for seven seasons starting in 2011 on WeTV. It focused on the lives of sisters Toni, Traci, Tamar, Trina and Towanda and their extended families. Traci was an actress and singer who released albums in 2014 and 2018, with the singles “Last Call’’ and “Broken Things’’ her best-known songs. She spent much of her time doing social work for children with disabilities, according to her website. She was married to Kevin Surratt, with whom she appeared on the TV series “Marriage Boot Camp.’’ Their son, Kevin Surratt Jr., said on Instagram Saturday that his mother fought to the end. “I love my mother forever and this hurts so much but I’m at peace knowing she’s not in pain anymore,’’ he said.
Jussie Smollett Starts 150-Day Jail Term in Protected By DON BABWIN and KATHLEEN FOODY
Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) – Jussie Smollett began a 150-day jail sentence for staging a hate crime against himself in protective custody, separated from other detainees and watched by security cameras and an officer, jail authorities said Friday. Sheriff’s deputies immediately took Smollett to the Cook County Jail on Thursday night after Judge James Linn sentenced the Black and gay actor to 30 months of felony probation – starting with a five-month term in jail – for lying to police that he had been the target of a racist and homophobic attack. Smollett loudly maintained his innocence and suggested he could be killed in jail. “Your honor, I respect you and I respect the jury, but I did not do this,” Smollett said Thursday. “And I am not suicidal. And if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself.’’ Smollett’s sentence may put an end – pending appeals – to more than three years of legal drama following the actor’s report to police that two men wearing ski masks beat him, and hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him on a dark Chicago street and ran off. Smollett’s attorneys filed an emergency injunction Friday seeking Smollett’s release pending his appeal. An appellate court judge ruled prosecutors have five days to respond to the emergency motion, WMAQ-TV reported. His attorneys also filed a notice of appeal in Cook County Criminal Court. They had said Thursday night that they plan to appeal both the jury’s guilty verdict and the judge’s sentence. One day earlier, a judge sentenced Smollett to 150 days in Cook County Jail following his conviction for lying to police about being the victim of a hoax hate crime in 2019. Smollett was also sentenced to 30 months of felony probation, ordered to pay more than $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago and was fined $25,000. He began his sentence immediately after learning his fate Thursday. In a statement on Friday, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office said Smollett is being held in protective custody –typical for people “who may potentially be at risk of harm due to the nature of their charges, their professions, or their noteworthy status.’’ Smollett has his own cell, monitored by security cameras and an officer stationed at the door and wearing a body camera, the sheriff’s office said. Smollett is able to have “substantial time’’ in common areas to use the phone, watch TV and interact with staff but other detainees won’t be in common areas with him. Smollett faced up to three years in prison for each of the five felony counts of disorderly conduct – the charge filed for lying to police – of which he was convicted. He was acquitted on a sixth count. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot praised the sentence, saying it sends a message that “false claims and allegations” would not be tolerated. “The city feels vindicated in today’s ruling that he is being held accountable and that we will appropriately receive restitution for his actions,’’ she said in a statement. Smollett’s sentence includes a payment of $120,106 in restitution to the city and a $25,000 fine. Smollett was convicted in a December jury trial, where witnesses included two brothers who told jurors Smollett paid them to carry out the attack and gave specific directions on what to do and say. Smollett, who knew the men from his work on the television show “Empire’’ that filmed in Chicago, testified that he did not recognize them and did not know they were the men attacking him.
Nursing Home for Elderly Blacks in Cleveland to Close CLEVELAND (AP) – What is believed to be the nation’s
oldest nursing home for Black people in Cleveland has announced it is closing because of financial problems. Eliza Bryant Village on the city’s east side was incorporated in 1896 to provide long-term care to Black residents living in the Cleveland area who were not welcome at white nursing homes. Many early residents were freed slaves, according to the nonprofit’s website. Eliza Bryant Village President and CEO Danny Williams in a statement Thursday said the facility’s “business model is unsustainable’’ because of rising costs and falling admissions. “Medicaid subsidies have failed to keep up with soaring care expenses and the COVID-19 pandemic have all wreaked havoc with our finances and forces us to make this regrettable decision,’’ Williams said. The 99-bed nursing home is scheduled to close June 8. The organization will work to place current residents elsewhere while continuing to offer affordable senior housing, home care and adult day services. Nearly 100 employees will be laid off. The facility was incorporated by Eliza Simmons Bryant in 1896 after a fundraising campaign. Bryant, the daughter of a slave, spent much of her adult life on humanitarian efforts to improve Black lives.