THE SAN BERNARDINO
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AMERICAN
“A Man In Debt is So Far A Slave” -R.W. Emerson
NEWSPAPER A Community Newspaper Serving San Bernardino, Riverside & Los Angeles Counties
June 9, 2022 Thursday Edition
Volume 53 No. 8
Mailing: P.O. Box 837, Victorville, CA 92393
Office: (909) 889-7677
Email: Mary @Sb-American.com
Website: www.SB-American.com
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them and these will continue till they have resisted either with words or blows or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance those of whom they suppress. —Fredrick Douglass (1849)
OPINION: The Common Theme of High-Profile Shootings: Mental Health
Beloved Brother, Father and Friend Barry L. Martin, Resident of San Bernardino, CA Has Died Obituary News
By Emil Guillermo
America is trying to let the three most publicized shooting incidents of the last month fade away. We can’t afford to let that happen again. Not after Orlando. Las Vegas. Atlanta. Not to mention Christchurch, New Zealand. But of course, we’ve forgotten them all. The supermarket shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., was like an echo of Christchurch, only this time the accused is teenager Payton Gendron. Ten African Americans were shot and killed in a hateful event driven by what President Joe Biden called the “poison” of White Supremacy. The coda to Buffalo was followed the next day by a shooting at a Taiwanese church service in Laguna Woods, in the Orange County/Los Angeles area. David Wenwei Chou, 68, is accused in the shooting of six people, one fatally. Chou had sent a diary to the Los Angeles office of the World Journal indicating he was against Taiwan’s independence and believed in “one China.” And then there was an arrest in
Dallas on Tuesday for a shooting the previous week. Jeremy Theron Smith, 37, is being held in connection with the shooting of three Asian Americans in a Koreatown hair salon. His girlfriend reportedly told police Smith had problems after having been in an auto accident involving an Asian American. All three shootings involved guns and some degree of racial or political hate. But the Smith case in Dallas shows the real common thread: mental health. According to Smith’s arrest affidavit, his girlfriend told police Smith was having “delusions that an Asian mob is after him or attempting to harm him.” It’s the evolution of #StopAAPIHate, after two years of being scapegoated for the virus, we’re being stalked based on xenophobic fantasies. By comparison, Buffalo was far less sophisticated. It was oldfashioned Black/white racism that provided a comfort level for Gendron, who proudly displayed anti-Black symbols and slogans
on his weapons. Gendron was brought to a Buffalo hospital by state police for mental evaluation in June of 2021 after writing that he wanted to shoot people. He was released a day and a half later with no further evaluation. The church shooter Chou was based in Las Vegas and found himself at the end of his rope. Chou’s wife was diagnosed with cancer and left him to return to Taiwan. He lost the four-unit building he and his wife owned, was barely employed, homeless, and according to a neighbor, showed signs of mental instability. Balmore Orellana, who lived next door to Chou, told the Los Angeles Times, “He told me, ‘I just don’t care about my life anymore.’” Suicidal ideation? No one was there to help Chou figure it out. But who was there to stop and help Smith in Dallas? His girlfriend apparently could see the signs, but not enough to intervene. In Gendron’s case in Buffalo, police had taken the suspect to a
mental hospital. But now it appears that a day and a half of evaluations was not nearly enough. No one took mental health seriously. Certainly not the folks who market in guns. All three shooters were well armed. What if, instead of guns, they had greater access to care? Would our society rather pay for that instead of funerals? It’s a coincidence that May is both Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and Mental Health Awareness Month. Understanding our nation’s great diversity is important. But it’s also important to pay attention to how we as human beings deal with our stresses and anxieties, and how that impacts our thoughts and actions toward ourselves and one another. That’s mental health. How we deal with it makes a difference as we brace ourselves for the next Gendron, Smith, or Chou. Because these are not all oneoffs. We will see these situations again if we don’t pay attention and start caring. NOTE: I will talk about this column and other matters on “Emil Amok’s Takeout,” my micro-talk show. Live at 2 p.m. Pacific. Livestream on Facebook; my YouTube channel; and Twitter. Catch the recordings on www. amok.com. The post OPINION: The Common Theme of High-Profile Shootings: Mental Health first appeared on Post News Group. This article originally appeared in Post News Group.
Ward Connerly Resurfaces to Oppose Reparations for Black Californians Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media
(Photo courtesy of the American Civil Rights Institute) During the early 1990s, Ward Connerly, then-President of the California Civil Rights Initiative Campaign, was the leading
African American supporting Proposition (Prop) 209, the ballot initiative that outlawed Affirmative Action in California
in 1996. Well, he’s back. This time, Connerly, now 82, he is speaking up in opposition to reparations for Black Californians. He is making his objection as the state moves closer than any government in United States history has ever come to providing comprehensive restitution for slavery to Black Americans who are descendants of enslaved people in the American South. On June 4, Connerly tweeted that Prop 209 could stop any form of reparations for Black Californians from happening. “It is (Prop) 209 that will prevent our Legislature and
Governor from doing something so ridiculous as to compensate some of us based on the color of our skin or being the ancestors of slaves,” Connerly posted. Last week, the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans submitted its first “interim report” to the State Legislature. The 492-page, 13-chapter report details the committee’s findings thus far covering a range of historical injustices against Black Americans in general with specific citations of systemic discrimination in California. continued on page 3
“And I have hope toward God, which hope these men also look forward to, that there is going to be a resurrection...”Acts 24:15 SAN BERNARDINO, CA-Barry Lymond Martin the youngest son of the late Samuel Martin Sr. and Willie Mae Martin passed away on May 14th after a short illness. Barry was born in San Bernardino and was well known by residents in the Westside community. Barry was the youngest child of four children. His siblings are the late Violet Jean (Martin) Rose , Mary Florean (Martin) Harris and Samuel Martin Jr. Barry was born and raised in San Bernardino, California and attended San Bernardino High School. As a young man, Barry worked in the newspaper business with his Father, the late Samuel Martin Sr., Publisher of The San Bermardino American News for several years and in the record and video retail business with his late Uncle Alvin Wilbourn at AMC Music &Video. Barry was well known in the neighborhood by all of the neighbors on Evans Street. He would regularly take on odd jobs
doing lawn services and he was quite adept at preparing income taxes for many individuals. Barry met and married Beverly Diaz and from that union they had three children, Barry Lymond Jr., Bobbi Joy (deceased) and Brian. Barry married his second wife in 2006, Monica Monique Harris and they have been together until his death. He leaves to cherish his memory, his wife Monique, two sons Barry Jr. and Brian, one granddaughter Zheaan, Mary Florean (sister) Samuel Jr. (brother), four uncles Urias Martin (Gloria), Johnny Martin (Toni), Frank Martin (Deborah) and Floyd Martin (Linda). One Aunt Bobbie Jean (Martin) House (James). A host of nieces, nephews and cousins. A Memorial Service for Barry will be held Saturday, June 11th at 1 pm on zoom. Zoom information will be available on Everloved.com and Facebook.
MISSION STATEMENT Clifton Harris /Editor in Chief Investigative Reporter sbamericannews@gmail.com Mary Martin-Harris / Editor Legal /Display Advertising (909) 889-7677 Clifton B. Harris / Audio Engineering Editor Digital Online Banner Advertising (909) 889-7677 The San Bernardino American News was established May 6, 1969. A legally adjudicated newspaper of general circulation on September 30, 1971, case number 15313 by the Superior Court of San Bernardino County. The San Bernardino AMERICAN News subscription rate is $59.00 per year. The San Bernardino AMERICAN News is committed to serving its readers by presenting news unbiased and objective, trusting in the mature judgment of the readers and, in so doing, strive to achieve a united community. News releases appearing in the San Bernardino AMERICAN News do not necessarily express the policy nor the opinion of the publishers. The San Bernardino AMERICAN News reserves the right to edit or rewrite all news releases.