Valley's News Observer 4.29.21 4C

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Will You Still Need Me When I’m 104? Yes.

Man was Homeless. Then He Made $10,000 from YouTube. Page A3

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News Observer The Valley’s

Volume 36 Number 24

Serving the San Fernando Valley for Over 36 Years

Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California

Black Unemployment Increases as California Job Market Recovers

Bo Tefu California Black Media There has been a gradual increase in the unemployment rate among Blacks Californians despite an overall improvement in the state’s labor market, according to a job report the Employment Development Department of

California (EDD) compiled. National data from the U.S. Department of Labor shows that Black workers lag behind in the recovery of California’s job market although the state’s unemployment rate decreased to 8.3 % in the first quarter of 2021. “California’s economic recovery depends on bringing back the businesses and jobs we’ve lost over the past year,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom. According to the job report, Black Californians have the highest unemployment rate which increased to 13.9 % in the first quarter of this fiscal year. The report also stated that the unemployment rate for Black people in the labor force has more than doubled since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. Since the state expanded vaccine eligibility, California’s labor force has gained close to 120,000 jobs with more than half of those jobs being offered in the leisure and hospitality industries. State officials are optimistic that vaccine efforts will bolster more job opportunities statewide. The slow and steady decrease of the state’s unemployment rate shows that, “we still have a long way to go,” said Gov. Newsom. State officials said that the slight decrease in California’s

unemployment rate is a step in the right direction to reopening the economy in June this year. According to the EDD job report, there are over 1.5 million unemployed people in California. However, state officials project that reopening the state will accelerate the recovery of California’s job market. In a joint public statement, Dee Dee Myers, the director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), and Julie A. Su, California’s Secretary for the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, said the state’s vaccine initiatives work hand-in-hand with efforts to restore the job market. “With vaccine eligibility now expanded to Californians 16 and older, our safe reopening and strong recovery will require an ongoing commitment to vaccine access and to a safe workplace for everyone, as more and more Californians get back to work,” said the state officials. National versus state unemployment rates among Blacks The Black population is the only ethnic group to experience a steady increase in unemployment during the first quarter of the fiscal year. According to labor market

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Nation’s Crisis in Racial Health Disparities Sets Goal to Reduce Racial Disparities in Maternal Health by 50% in Five Years CHICAGO, IL (April 20, 2021) – Today, as part of its ongoing mission to improve the health of America, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) announced its National Health Equity Strategy to confront the nation’s crisis in racial health disparities. This strategy intends to change the trajectory of heath disparities and re-imagine a more equitable healthcare system. BCBSA has convened a national advisory panel of doctors, public health experts and community leaders to provide guidance. “Your health shouldn’t depend on the color of your skin or the neighborhood you live in,” said Kim Keck, president and CEO of BCBSA. “The crisis in racial disparities in our country’s health care is unconscionable and unacceptable. While BCBS companies have made great strides in addressing racial health disparities in our local communities, there is so much more to be done.” ”Starting here and starting now, we can begin to put an end to the racial disparities in health care,” continued Keck. “Our deep roots in the local communities we serve, combined with the scale and scope of our national reach, enable all of us at Blue Cross Blue Shield companies to

“BCBS companies are fully committed to reach this goal,” said Kim Keck, president and CEO of BCBSA. “We will continue to collaborate with our local partners and providers to continually improve our programs and build momentum, and we will seek out new ideas and proven initiatives that accelerate health equity reform.”

drive this new strategy and bring real change. But we cannot do it alone. It is a moment in time when we as a nation must come together to build a new model of

equitable health care.” BCBSA’s National Health Equity Strategy is comprehensive and relies on close collaboration with providers and local community organizations. This collaboration was essential in recent months as BCBS companies worked with local leaders to support vulnerable communities with COVID-19 vaccine access. The strategy includes collecting data to measure disparities, scaling effective programs, working with providers to improve outcomes and address unconscious bias, leaning into partnerships at the community level, and influencing policy decisions at the state and federal levels. The multi-year strategy will focus on four conditions that disproportionately affect communities of color: maternal health, behavioral health, diabetes and cardiovascular conditions. BCBSA will first focus on maternal health, then behavioral health in 2021. Setting a Goal to Address Racial Disparities in Maternal Health BCBSA has set a public goal to reduce racial disparities in maternal health by 50% in five years. “BCBS companies are fully committed to reach this goal,” said Keck. “We will continue to collaborate with our local partners and providers to continually improve

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CA to Receive $3.8 Billion in Federal Cash to Help Childcare Providers

Quinci LeGardye California Black Media Help is on the way for childcare providers in California -- an industry rocked by widespread closures with surviving operators burdened by the weight of sharp increases in their operating costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But those companies offering babysitting and other related services will soon receive an infusion of much-needed monetary aid from the federal government. On April 15, the Biden Administration announced the release of $39 billion in direct funding allocated for childcare providers in the American Rescue Plan, which was signed into law on March 11. California U.S. Congressmember Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-13) welcomed the President’s announcement. “The COVID-19 pandemic has created a childcare crisis on top of a public health crisis. Child-care providers are almost entirely women and 40 percent are people of color. Providing relief to help keep childcare centers and schools open is critical for our students, parents, educators, and care providers, and is essential to support our country’s economic recovery and build back better.” According to a September 2020 report compiled by the Center for American Progress, the cost of center-based childcare increased by 47 % due to enhanced health and safety requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic. The cost of home-based family childcare increased by 70 %. The report found that these increased costs were driven by the need for more staff and more sanitation supplies to meet COVID-19 protocols. In this latest round of federal funding for childcare providers, about $25 billion will go towards funding grants through a childcare stabilization fund. Childcare providers can use these grants to help cover fixed costs like rent, make payroll and purchase sanitizing supplies. Another amount, around $15 billion, will be available as emergency funding through the Child Care and Development Fund, to provide childcare to essential workers. Lawmakers are also requiring that childcare providers who receive these funds make financial relief available for families struggling to pay tuition. Combined with the $10 billion allocated in the December 2020 COVID-19 relief package, and $3.5 billion allocated in the March 2020 CARES Act, the childcare industry has now received more than $50 billion in federal support.

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Thursday, April 29, 2021

Black Customer Ejected from Supermarket After Slur Complaint

BERLIN (AP) – German supermarket chain Aldi has apologized after a Black customer who had complained about another shopper’s racist slur was ejected from a Berlin store. Prince Ofori, a German-Ghanaian dance teacher, posted a video on Instagram that showed other shoppers and a man described as a store manager haranguing him during the incident he said took place at an Aldi store in Germany’s capital on Thursday. In the video, a man in a blue jacket is seen throwing a cardboard box at Ofori while other customers shout at him to stop filming. Visibly agitated, Ofori explains that he had objected to a fellow customer’s use of a racist term to describe chocolate-covered marshmallows. The confections are called “chocolate kisses,” but in the past Germans commonly referred to them using a racist term for Black people. “He wants to buy (racial slur) kisses,” Ofori says in the video. “I told him (racial slur) don’t exist anymore. They think that because they grew up with (the term), they have the right to say that.” Toward the end of the video, the man in the blue jacket - described by Ofori as the branch manager - and a security guard push out of the store. Another store employee tries to intervene, telling the man in the blue jacket, “Calm down, boss.” The video ends with the man in the jacket asking Ofori why he’s not allowed to use the racial slur and saying, “I don’t know what your problem is.” “The incident in our Berlin store will be investigated so that further lessons can be drawn from it,” Aldi said. “As a first step we have severed ties with the staff member in the video due to his inappropriate behavior.” The company said it would not tolerate racism, “neither in our own ranks nor in society.”

Deputy who Shot Black Man Appears to Mistake Phone for Gun

SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. (AP) – Body camera footage and 911 audio released late Friday appeared to show that a Virginia deputy mistook a cordless house phone held by a Black man for a gun before the deputy shot him repeatedly. Family members said Isaiah Brown, 32, was in intensive care with 10 bullet wounds following the shooting outside a home. “It is evident that the tragic shooting of Isaiah Brown was completely avoidable,” Brown’s attorney David Haynes said in a statement Friday. The body camera video shows the deputy arriving at the scene and yelling at Brown to show his hands. The deputy then yells, “drop the gun,” multiple times and appears to say over his radio, “he’s got a gun to his head.” The deputy then yells, “stop walking towards me, stop walking towards me” and “stop, stop” before firing at least seven shots. The 911 audio shows Brown was on the phone with a dispatcher at the time the deputy arrived. The dispatcher is heard telling Brown to “hold your hands up” as the sirens draw near. “The deputy in question made multiple, basic policing errors and violated established protocols. The deputy was situated nearly 50 feet from Isaiah, was never threatened and should not have discharged his weapon,” Haynes said. The deputy, who has not been identified, has been placed on administrative leave and Virginia State Police is handling the investigation. At some point later, 911 was called. Isaiah Brown is heard on the call saying his brother won’t let him into his mother’s room in the house, and he can’t get into his car. The dispatcher tells Brown that his car is broken down and has been towed. Brown then says, “alright, give me the gun” to which his brother is heard in the background saying, “no.” The dispatcher asks what’s going on, and Brown replied “I’m about to kill my brother.” The dispatcher says “don’t kill your brother,” and asks Brown multiple times if he’s armed. He says no. Brown then told the dispatcher he was walking down the road. The dispatcher asks, “How are you walking down the road with the house phone?” Brown replied, “Because I can.” The deputy arrived shortly after and can be heard yelling at Brown on the 911 audio. After the shots are fired, the deputy is heard rendering aid to Brown and instructing the brother to get a first aid kit out of his patrol vehicle. It’s unclear whether the deputy knew Brown told the dispatcher he wasn’t armed or knew Brown was walking down the street with a cordless house phone. Haynes, Brown’s attorney, said the family is also requesting dispatch audio leading up to the shooting be released.

Kanye West Sneakers Fetch Record $1.8M

(Courtesy Photo)

The Biden Administration’s announcement also highlighted the effects that the increased need for childcare during the COVID-19 pandemic have had on women and families of color. As of December 2020, about one in four early childhood and child-care providers that were open at the start of the pandemic have been closed. The affected centers are disproportionately owned by people of color, and their closures have both put women of color out of work, and left families of color without childcare. Also, since the start of the pandemic, roughly 2 million women have left the work force due to caregiving needs. On April 20, Lee released an announcement detailing the specific amount of funds available for California’s

childcare providers. Over $2.3 billion will be given to the Golden State from the child-care stabilization fund, her statement said. Another $1.4 billion is available through flexible funding to make childcare across California more affordable for families, increase access to care for families receiving subsidies and increase compensation for childcare workers. “I’m pleased to see this funding come through for families and child-care providers in the East Bay and across our state,” said Lee. In total, California will receive nearly $3.8 billion for providers and families.

NEW YORK (AP) – A pair of prototype Nikes worn by Kanye West during his performances of “Hey Mama’’ and “Stronger’’ at the Grammy Awards in 2008 has shattered the record for a pair of sneakers ever sold. Sotheby’s announced Monday that West’s so-called “Grammy Worn’’ Nike Air Yeezy 1 fetched $1.8 in a private sale. It was acquired by RARES, a sneaker investment marketplace. The sale marks the highest publicly recorded price for a sneaker sale and the first pair of sneakers to top $1 million. Sotheby’s brokered the private sale. The size 12 shoes designed by West and Mark Smith are made of soft black leather with perforated detailing throughout the upper, and the heel overlay is branded with a tonal Swoosh. The design features the iconic Yeezy forefoot strap and signature `Y’ medallion lacelocks in bright pink. The price is nearly triple the auction record for a sneaker set in 2020 at Christie’s for $615,000. That was a pair of ‘85 Jordan 1s that the basketball superstar wore when he famously shattered the backboard during a preseason game in Italy. “We are thrilled with the result, which has nearly tripled the highest price on record,’’ Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of streetwear and modern collectables, said in a statement. “The sale speaks volumes of Kanye’s legacy as one of the most influential clothing and sneaker designers of our time, and of the Yeezy franchise he has built which has become an industry titan.’’


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Valley's News Observer 4.29.21 4C by Observer Group Newspapers of Southern CA - Issuu