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THE POST, June 9-15, 2021, Page 7
Some Upbeat News for Black Businesses The Care First Resolution Passed Still Reeling From Pandemic Losses - Now It’s Time to Fund It By Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media
Next week, after more than a year, California is expected to lift the majority of its COVID-19 related restrictions and reopen its economy at almost-full capacity. But as the state prepares for a long-anticipated comeback, many Black businessowners say enterprises across the state that African Americans own face an uphill road to recovery. “It’s a state of disrepair. They Tara Lynn Gray, director of the Business Advocate. Black-owned business operators who are struggling will need able to them, Gray told California Black Media (CBM) at a luncheon hosted by the California Black Chamber of Commerce in Sacramento. “(Black businesses) have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19,” Gray said. “Fortunately, the governor has stepped up and provided $2.5 billion dollars in relief funds to all small businesses with priority to the disadvantaged communities of color.” In February 2020, there were 1 million Black-owned businesses in operation around the United States, according to a University of California at Santa Cruz report. About six weeks later, after the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Black business owners had dropped to 440,000, a 41%, reduction. Many of them had to shut down their businesses for good. During the same time, only 17% of white proprietors had to shut down their businesses, UC Santa Cruz research shows. Overall, nearly 4 million minor-
annual sales total close to $700 billion, shuttered because of COVID-19. But despite the grim statistics, a number of small business help available both at the state and federal levels for most businessowners. by Ethnic Media Services last month, speakers discussed how small businesses in California and around the country can emerge from this crisis, catch the wave of what seems to be a gathering economic boom, or conThe main objective of the nesses, particularly minority owned ones, connect to various sources of funding created to help them recover from the pandemic. The key is to apply for the money, said Everett Sands, CEO of Lendistry, a leading, Blackled Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and Community Development Entity (CDE) that is also a small business and commercial real estate lender. “Let’s make an assumption. If you are allowed to open, and you can open, then therefore you should be able to receive some type of revenue,” Sands said. “What we’ve learned about the
pandemic is that most opportunities are coming a second time. If you look at the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), it came a third time. But it is important for businesses to apply.” The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a federal revenue replacement program designed to sustain small business jobs during the ongoing public health and economic crisis. May 31 was the last day for small business owners operating in lowincome neighborhoods to apply for the third round of PPP loans. In California, Lendistry helped thousands of small businesses secure loans and grants during the pandemic. Funded by the State of California through Business Advocate, Lendistry, was the state-contracted administrator of the program that administered six rounds of grant derserved businesses. Sands was one of the guest speakers along with U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA17), a member of the Congressional Small Business Caucus, and Virginia Ali. Ali owns the nationally renowned restaurant and Black-owned small business Ben’s Chili Bowl in Wash., D.C. To read the full story, go to postnewsgroup.com
By Natasha Baker, Esq. and John Lindsay-Poland
Opinion
Daniel Rivers is a Black man with schizophrenia. During one of his bouts of homelessness, he broke into a car searching for refuge and ended up in Santa Rita, Alameda County’s jail. (Daniel’s name is changed for
dress the County’s crisis of racial inequity. Like Rivers, a disproportionate number of county residents who are pushed into the criminal legal system because of inadequate community-based mental health support are Black. Black people represent only 11% of Alameda County’s population, but make up 47% of the county’s homeless population, 48% of the Santa Rita jail mental health unit population, and constitute 53% of people who cycle in and out of both the criminal legal and hospital systems. Now that the Care First Resolution has passed, the Board of Supervisors needs to fund it. How much is needed? The County’s Behavioral Health
Rivers had previously cycled in and out of short-term detox facilities for three years before schizophrenia was even diagnosed. Because fragmented, short-term behavioral health treatment was all he had access to in the community, he was jailed for behavior related to his mental illness. In jail, his mental and physical health deteriorated. According to Rivers’ mother, his time in Santa Rita left him “traumatized and zombie-like.” Rivers is one of hundreds of incarcerated people with mental illness from Alameda County. As many as 44% of the people at Santa Rita and 42% of people sent to state prisons from the county have a mental illness, some of the highest proportions in the state. Mental health care at Santa Rita is woefully inadequate and its inadequacy is often used by neling more money into the jail. But no one heals in a cell. More funds for the jail have not prevented ongoing abuses and deaths. Last month, on the anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the Care First, Jail Last Resolution. Created by Decarcerate Alameda County, this policy prioritizes a continuum of care and services for people with mental illness who are at risk of incarceration. The goal of Care First is to address the County’s paucity of community-based mental health resources that push people like Rivers into incarceration. We hope that this policy will also ad-
sources to fund $50 million for mental health services proposed last year. The unhoused and jailed populations heavily overlap and $820 million is needed over the -
lessness in Alameda County. Last year, the Board of Supervisors adopted the Home Together Plan to begin to address that need, with $50 million allocated for 2021. While an important start to implementing the Care First policy, more is needed. Since the Board of Supervisors also just approved funding to design a mental health wing at the jail, advocacy is needed to make sure community-based resources, not cages, are the priority. If the Board of Supervisors believe that #BlackLivesMatter, then adequate funding to implement the Care First Resolution is a must. Natasha Baker, Esq., is an Oakland-based criminal defense and civil rights attorney specializing in class action lawsuits to end the criminalization of poverty. John Lindsay-Poland co-directs the California Healing Justice program of American Friends Service Committee. Both are members of Decarcerate Alameda County.
Barbara Lee Marks the 40th Anniversary of the AIDS Epidemic Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), co-chair of the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus, introduced legislation marking the 40th annicases of AIDS in the United States on June 5, 1981, in Los Angeles, California. June 5, 2021, marks the 40th anniversary since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) of what later became known as AIDS. Lee said “The Bay Area has been a leader in
Barbara Lee
HIV/AIDS activism, and we a cure.” Please visit www. postnewsgroup.com for the listing of the groups supporting Lee’s legislation.
Continued on page 8
California Awards Ceremony Celebrates the Best of Ethnic Journalism Continued from page 2
youth groups and more to speak to the underserved and the forgotten because we understand the struggle that in most cases we have lived through.” Jorge Macias, awarded for his digital coverage of climate change for Univision, recalled how in the last four years, “we all suffered from the denial of climate change, and even in moments of terror in California with these devastating
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to take paid time off work for COVID-19 related reasons.
(Donald) Trump said that science didn’t know. This prize means a lot because as human beings we have to battle with that absurd view denying climate change.” Hosts for the evening were Odette Alcazaren-Keeley and Pilar Marrero, both distinguished veterans of the ethnic media industry. Some 20
COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave is now available for workplaces with 26 or more employees and is just one of many leave rights for workers in California. If you or a family member are sick or have been exposed to COVID-19, supplemental paid sick leave can cover:
leaders, scholars and writers paid tribute to the sector in videotaped remarks. Sandip Roy, once a software engineer in Silicon Valley, now an award-winning author and journalist in India, said if it weren’t for ethnic media giving him a platform, he wouldn’t be a writer today. After presenting awards to Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese reporters for stories on issues impacting Black and Latinx communities, Alcazaren-Keeley announced a special judge’s award for cross-cultural reporting. The winner, Jeanne Ferris of News from Native California, documented how the desti-
• Up to 80 hours of leave in addition to permanent paid sick leave • Care for yourself or a family member with COVID-19 • Getting tested, vaccinated or recovering from vaccine side effects Ask your employer what rights are available to you.
Learn more at saferatwork.ca.gov
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nies of two groups of people converged when Japanese Americans were incarcerated in World War II on reservation lands. At the closing of the ceremony, Sandy Close, executive director of Ethnic Media Services, said the coming together of reporters from so many racial and ethnic groups
LEGALS TRUSTEE SALES APN: 056-1984-17 OTHER: 5943190 TS-210207 NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S SALE UNDER DEED OF TRUST YOU ARE IN DEFAULT UNDER A DEED OF TRUST, DATED 9/19/2019 UNLESS YOU TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY, IT MAY BE SOLD AT A PUBLIC SALE. IF YOU NEED AN EXPLANATION OF THE NATURE OF THE PROCEEDING AGAINST YOU, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LAWYER. NOTICE is hereby given that C.N.A. FORECLOSURE SERVICES, INC. A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION, as trustee, or successor trustee, or substituted trustee pursuant to the Deed Hunter Roberts, Successor Trustee of the O.J. Hunter and Rosemarie Hunter Trust dated 9/10/2004 Recorded on 9/26/2019 as Instrument No. of Alameda County, California, and pursuant to the Notice of Default and Election to Sell thereunder recorded 2/23/2021 as Instrument No. 2021076246 of on 6/22/2021 At the Fallon Street County Courthouse, 1225 Fallon St., Oakland, CA 94612 at 12:00 p.m. AT PUBLIC AUCTION TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER FOR CASH (payable at the time of sale in lawful money of the United States), all right, title and interest conveyed to and now held by it under said Deed of Trust in the property situated in said County and State hereinafter described. The property address and other common designation, if any, of the real property described above is purposed to be: 1141 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA The undersigned Trustee disclaims any liability for any incorrectness of the property address and other common designation, if any, shown herein. The total amount of unpaid balance of the obligation secured by the property to be sold and reasonable advances at the time of the initial publication of the Notice of Sale is: $894,647.92 (estimated). In addition to cash, the Trustee will
to celebrate not just their own but each other’s work was the real takeaway for the night. on a hand,” she said, quoting Chauncey Bailey, a veteran of Black media killed in 2007 for investigating wrongdoing in his own community. “When
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accept a cashier’s check drawn by a state or federal credit union or a check drawn by state or federal savings and loan association, savings association or savings
the rescheduled time and date for the sale of this property, you may call 916-939-0772 or visit this internet website www. nationwideposting.com, using
of the Financial Code and authorized to do business in this state. In the event tender other than cash is accepted the Trustee may withhold the issuance of the Trustee’s Deed until funds become available to the payee or endorsee as a matter of right. Said sale will be made, but without
case 210207 Information about postponements that are very short in duration or that occur close in time to the scheduled sale may
implied regarding title, possession or encumbrances, to satisfy the indebtedness secured by said Deed, advances thereunder, with interest as provided therein, and the unpaid principal balance of the Note secured by said Deed with interest thereon as provided in said Note, fees, charges and trusts created by said Deed of Trust. NOTICE TO POTENTIAL BIDDERS: If you are considering bidding on this property lien, you should understand that there are risks involved in bidding at a trustee auction. You will be bidding on a lien, not on the property itself. Placing the highest bid at a trustee auction does not automatically entitle you to free and clear ownership of the property. You should also be aware that the junior lien. If you are the highest bidder at the auction, you are or all liens senior to the lien being receive clear title to the property. You are encouraged to investigate on this property by contacting title insurance company, either of which may charge you a fee for this information. If you consult either of these resources, you should be aware that the same lender may hold more than one mortgage or deed of trust on the property. NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNER: The sale date shown on this notice of sale may be postponed one or more times trustee, or a court, pursuant to Section 2924g of the California Civil Code. The law requires that information about trustee sale postponements be made available to you and to the public, as a courtesy to those not present at the sale. If you wish to learn whether your sale date has been postponed, and, if applicable,
telephone information or on the internet website. The best way to verify postponement information is to attend the scheduled sale. NOTICE TO TENANT: You may have a right to purchase this property after the trustee auction, pursuant to Section 2924m of the California Civil Code. If you are an “eligible tenant buyer,” you can purchase the property if you match the last and highest bid placed at the trustee auction. If you are an “eligible bidder,” you may be able to purchase the highest bid placed at the trustee auction. There are three steps to First, 48 hours after the date of the trustee sale, you can call 916-9390772, or visit this internet website www.nationwideposting.com, on which the trustee’s sale was held, the amount of the last and highest bid, and the address of the trustee. Second, you must send a written notice of intent to place a bid so that the trustee receives it no more than 15 days after the trustee’s sale. Third, you must submit a bid so that the trustee receives it no more than 45 days after the trustee’s sale. If you think you may qualify as an “eligible tenant buyer” or eligible bidder,” you should consider contacting an attorney or appropriate real estate professional immediately for advise regarding potential right to purchase.” FOR SALES INFORMATION CALL : 916-9390772 C/O C.N.A. FORECLOSURE SERVICES, INC., A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION as said Trustee. 2020 CAMINO DEL RIO N. #230, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA 92108 (619) 297-6740 DATE: 5/25/2021 KIMBERLY CURRAN, TRUSTEE SALE OFFICER NPP0374122 To: THE BERKELEY TRI-CITY POST 06/02/2021, 06/09/2021, 06/16/2021 6/2, 6/9, 6/16/21 CNS-3476412# BERKELEY TRI-CITY POST
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