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 23, 2022 Thursday Edition
Volume 53 No. 10 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)
Inflation Worries Grow as Cal Legislature Approves State Budget Aldon Thomas Stiles and Edward Henderson | California Black Media
Juneteenth, the U.S.’ Second Independence Day, Is Now a Federal Holiday June 19, 1865, marked the end of slavery in Texas and, by extension, the Confederate states Meilan Solly Smithsonian Magazine Associate Editor, History
Early Juneteenth celebrations featured picnics, rodeos, horseback riding and other festivities. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Jennifer Cain Bohrnsted Diane Lanette Barkum is an in-home care provider and mom of three. She commutes about 40 minutes every workday between the Riverside County cities of Lake Elsinore, where she lives, and Moreno Valley, where her job is. Over the last few months, Barkum says she has been stressed and scraping by, struggling to balance sharp increases in the cost of gas and food with making enough money to pay for other expenses. “What worries me most about rising prices is that they’ll continue to rise, making it more difficult for low-income working parents to be able to support their families,” she said. Terence Henry, who lives in Patterson in the Central Valley, used to drive 77 miles to the Bay Area to make deliveries as an independent contractor. He says the high cost of gas forced him to give up the job late last year and opt for only making local runs. “It used to cost me about $50 each way to fill up the tank to get to Oakland, San Francisco and other cities,” he said. “It just was not worth it anymore. I was losing money. Barkum says she hopes there is relief around the corner for people like her who are working hard, raising children and still unable to make ends meet. Barkum and Henry are not alone. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, a majority of Californians (27 %) say jobs, the economy and inflation are their top concern over housing costs and availability (12%) and homelessness (11%). Across the United States, the inflation rate is 8.6% -- up from 4.7% last year, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. And the American Automobile Association reports that the average price per gallon of regular gas in California has risen above
$6. Several economists agree that the effects of inflation hit poor and working-class families the hardest. In Southern California, the inflation rate in Riverside and San Bernardino counties in the Inland Empire has risen to 9.4%, according to the UCLA Anderson School of Management. That number is among the highest increases in the country. Last week, the California Legislature approved a record $300 billion-plus budget for the next fiscal year, the largest annual spending plan in the state’s history. The package includes a surplus of close to $100 billion dollars, half of which must be used to fund schools by law. Included in the budget are plans to spend the other half. So far, legislators have allotted $8 billion in rebates to taxpayers. Another $1.3 billion has been designated for grants to small business and non-profit organizations. Another $600 million has been specified for tax credits to the lowest-income Californians. While lawmakers – both Democrats and Republicans – and the governor’s office agree that addressing spiraling inflation is urgent, they have not reached
agreement on how to provide relief to struggling families. Anthony York, Newsom’s senior advisor for communications said in a statement that the Governor still wants “more immediate, direct relief to help millions more families with rising gas, groceries and rent prices.” At the federal level, US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell approved a three- quarter (0.75) percentage point rate hike -the highest single percentage rate increase since 2008. “African American owned businesses and families are experiencing the damaging effects of inflation including the current interest rate increase instituted by the Federal Reserve Board. It is important for financial institutions to work with Blackowned businesses and their families to help navigate the rising cost of capital needed to operate and sustain all businesses,” said Timothy Alan Simon, Board Chair of the California African American Chamber of Commerce. By statute, Gov. Newsom has until June 30 to veto the Legislators’ budget bill or sign it into law. If the governor approves the budget, it will take effect July
1, the beginning of the 2022-23 fiscal year. However, negotiations are expected to continue through the end of August as lawmakers hammer out final details. During the public comment section of the Assembly Budget Committee hearing on June 13, Adrian Mohammed, an African American representative of the Bay Area Health Initiative spoke about the exclusion of a $500 million proposal to address Black housing and antidisplacement in the Bay Area in the budget the Legislature passed. “We believe that this is an incredibly timely and incredibly necessary ask and we ask that you continue to work with us to get this to come to fruition,” Mohammed told lawmakers. Two days later, Republican leaders held a rally last week at the State Capitol blasting their Democratic colleagues for their inaction on addressing the high cost of gas. “Legislative Republicans are gathered here to remind Californians that it has been 100 days since the governor and the Democrats here in continued on page 6
Note: On Thursday, June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden signed a bill designating Juneteenth—the longstanding commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States—as a federal holiday. The Senate passed the measure unanimously on Tuesday (June 15). The House of Representatives voted on the bill Wednesday, approving it by a margin of 415 to 14. Juneteenth derives its name from June 19, 1865—the day that U.S. General Gordon Granger informed the enslaved individuals of Galveston, Texas, that they were officially free. Issued two-and-ahalf years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, Granger’s decree marked the end of slavery in the rebellious Confederate states. “A lt houg h t here were enslavers who were aware of the implementation of the Emancipation Proclamation, it wasn’t until June 19, 1865, that it was actually enforced [by] the Union Army,” writes Mary Elliott, curator of American slavery at
the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in a blog post. “... It took the creation of the Emancipation Proclamation, the end of the Civil War, and the passage of the 13th Amendment to finally end slavery throughout the nation.” (NMAAHC is set to mark the holiday with a rich slate of virtual programming and resources.) The bill’s passage makes Juneteenth the nation’s 12th federal holiday. The last time the government added a new holiday to its calendar was in 1983, when the third Monday of January was declared Martin Luther King Jr. Day. “Our federal holidays are purposely few in number and recognize the most important milestones,” Representative Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from New York, tells Kevin Freking of the Associated Press (AP). “I cannot think of a more important milestone to commemorate than the end of continued on page 2
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.