Kenneth White the first Black Fire Captain to promote through the ranks for San Bernardino County Department

55th San Bernardino County Black

Awareness Month

Parade and Expo,

Saturday February

25th, 10am on Citrus

Ave. north of the 210 followed by the Expo on the Home Depot parking lot on Sierra Lakes parkway. This is a photo opportunity for young and old to have a picture taken with First Black Fire Captain in San Bernardino County. Kenneth White married for 15 years to Sharon, and have two daughters Rhay (14) and Taelyn(12). In 2005 he began his fantastic journey of becoming a firefighter. In 2010, he was hired as a full time firefighter paramedic for San Bernardino County Fire Department. In 2015, Mr. White was promoted to Engineer and transferred to the city of San Bernardino during the transition to County. For many years he has invested

Home Town Grand Marshal Kenneth White his career in servicing his community. Captain White brought dedication and success to the Spark of Love toy drive which is an honor each year to be a part of such an incredible organization. You can also find him drumming for the Local 935 Professional Pipes and Drums. Kenneth said that "My passion is to give great service both internally to my peers and externally to the community we serve. After 18 years of dedication to this department, I am the first Black Fire Captain to promote through the ranks for San Bernardino County Department. I am honored to have this opportunity to help inspire the next generation of firefighters. My new role as captain will be at station in 161 in the city of Upland."

Young Scholars of Excellence

Showcase Talent at APhiA and AKA 35th Oratorical Contest

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Mu Xi Lambda Chapter, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Eta Nu Omega Chapter hosted the 35th Annual Oratorical Contest at the Riverside County Office of Education, Riverside, California on Saturday, February 18, 2023. Young scholars demonstrated their public speaking skills in three different categories: Grade School, Middle School, and High School. Over 30 participants took part in the speech competition. This year’s theme was “Overcoming

Stereotypes.” Young scholars shared some stereotypes and prejudices they have faced and what they have done to overcome them. Participants also shared what they can do to change other people’s prejudices, stereotypes, and discriminatory practices.

Audience included parents, family members, friends, and Riverside County Office of Education executives. All scholars were provided with a certificate of recognition from organizers and from Assembly Member Corey Jackson, 60th

L/R: Dr. Charles Brown (A Phi A, Mu Xi Lambda Vice President), Twillea Evans-Carthen (AKA Eta Nu Omega Chair), James Kennedy, David Eoff V, Xavier Buffong, Wanda Khan, Sophia Barrett, Lauren Stewart, Isaiah Buffong, BrookeMonae Westbrook, Natalie Castro, Ruth Rembert (AKA Eta Nu Omega President), and Dar’rell Jones (A Phi A Chair).

District.

Winners in each category received a monetary award.

Elementary Xavier Buffong - 1st place -

$200.00

David Eoff V- 2nd Place-

$100.00

James Kennedy - 3rd Place$75.00

George T. French, Jr., Ph.D. President of Clark Atlanta University, and Clifton L. Harris, Publisher of the San Bernardino American News at the ‘Closing The Gap’ Scholarship Fundraiser at Green Valley Ranch Resort & Casino in Henderson, Nevada.

George T. French, Jr., Ph.D.

President of Clark Atlanta University, and Clifton L. Harris, Publisher of the San Bernardino American News attend the Annual William E. Shack Jr. Clark University Fundraiser in Henderson, NV.

In its 14th year, this year’s event was held at the Green Valley Ranch Resort & Casino. The event was titled Closing the Gap Scholarship Tournament combined with Mr. Shacks 80th birthday. Sponsors include Charles Barkley $100,000, Toyota-Alva Mason $30,000, MBZ of Buckhead $10,000,

NAMAD-Damon Lester $10,000, Bill & Jin Jin Shack $15,000, Waverer Inc. (David Rosen) $5,000, New Faze Realty (Allen Warren) $5000, Luxvoni (Dakoda Buford) $5000, Morgan Stanley (Ralph Jackson) $$5000, Beverly & Leon Davis $2500, Al Reid 2500, Elzye Epps $2500, Jim Colon $2500. All proceeds directly benefit the Closing the Gap Scholarship Fund established to provide scholarships to hundreds of young men and women who are struggling to complete their college education.

Young Scholars of Excellence

Showcase Talent at APhiA and AKA 35th Oratorical Contest...continued

Oratorical Contest Committee Members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, Mu Xi Lambda Chapter and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Eta Nu Omega Chapter

Middle School Lauren Stewart - 1st Place-

$300.00

Sophia Barrett - 2nd Place-

$200.00

Warda Khan - 3rd Place- $100.00

High School Natalia Castro - 1st Place-

$500.00

BrookeMonae Westbrook -

$300.00

Isaiah Buffong- 3rd Place-

$150.00

We are proud of these young scholars and look forward in their participation next year as we celebrate the 36th year of the Oratorical Contest offered to students in the Inland Empire. Students who will be attending college in the fall of 2023, we wish them much success in their educational and career goals.

Florida Is Just the Latest Battlefield in Right’s War on Education

By Svante Myrick

Making Public Transit Safer — A ‘Massive Intersection of Crises’...continued

It Shouldn't Take a Fiery Crash and Toxic Spill to Push Action on Railroad Safety

AP African American Studies course, and I will give them credit for publicly pointing out the ignorance and political motivations on display at the Florida Department of Education. Regardless, the Board played right into DeSantis’s hands. And their decision to remove important material from the core portion of the course had the same effect in the end: kids don’t get exposed to it and their freedom to learn is shortchanged.

Svante Myrick, President, People For the American Way

It’s been a few weeks since a mess started boiling over in Florida with the rollout of the new AP African American Studies course, and no one involved is looking good: not the state Department of Education, not the College Board, and definitely not Gov. Ron DeSantis, who blasted the course publicly and pressured the College Board to water it down. Now DeSantis, pumped up by what he thinks is his victory over educators, is making noise about going after all AP courses in the state.

It’s sad and infuriating to see the adults behaving like bullies and cowards, pointing fingers and trading accusations, while the ones being hurt are kids. Not just Black kids, who have waited years for a college-level course like this, but all kids – who will be deprived of a chance to learn foundational concepts in modern Black history if these adults have their way.

The new course omits many contemporary Black thinkers and writers. The core program doesn’t cover essential issues like structural marginalization, intersectionality, mass incarceration, reparations or the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement. It’s impossible to say students are well-versed in African American studies if these topics are considered optional. It’s even more absurd to say these students have attained collegelevel mastery of the subject, which is what AP credit is all about.

And what gets erased next?

Do we teach kids about Martin Luther King, Jr., and not Malcolm X? Do we sideline Jesse Jackson?

How about erasing Ruby Bridges, the little girl who was the first to integrate New Orleans schools? Ridiculous? Not at all: the farright group Moms for Liberty really did try to ban a book about Ruby from classrooms, claiming it was too upsetting for kids to read about the white mob that harassed 6-year-old Ruby on her way to school.

College Board officials insist that Ron DeSantis’s pressure did not force them to make the changes they made in the

All of us should demand that the College Board revise the curriculum to more accurately reflect the contemporary Black experience.

And at the same time, we should set our sights on removing politicians like DeSantis. Because he is hell-bent on building his right-wing political brand, today’s battlefield in the Far Right’s war on education is Florida; but it won’t stop there. It will be fought in Virginia, and Texas, and states across the country. Ambitious politicians like DeSantis in Florida and Glenn Youngkin in Virginia smell opportunity in this environment. It’s up to us to use the power vested in us by our representative democracy to stop them.

Maybe because I have served in office myself and have spent many years mentoring young elected officials, I will always have an unshakable faith in the power of representative democracy to solve problems and improve lives. I really believe that whatever mess elected officials have gotten us into, voters and true public servants can get us out. Those of us who care about threats to education need to wield our power at the ballot box against anti-education politicians. Or run for office ourselves. It might be a seat on the school board, or a local legislature, or a state office. Or higher.

That’s what I hope will come out of this disaster in Florida: not just the ultimate defeat of truly terrible officeholders but the elevation of truly good ones, who get into public service because they see a wrong to right. People we can count on to make inclusive education and opportunity a reality for all students, because all students have that right.

Svante Myrick is President of People For the American Way. Previously, he served as executive director of People For and led campaigns focused on transforming public safety, racial equity, voting rights, and empowering young elected officials. Myrick garnered national attention as the youngest-ever mayor in New York State history.

Making Public Transit Safer — A ‘Massive Intersection of Crises’

By Peter White

The rash of hate crimes, growing numbers of homeless and mentally ill, and a lack of trust in law enforcement have led to more unsafe conditions on public transit.

there was no evidence of a hate crime. However, two months later a Civilian Review Panel saw the video and labeled Lee’s case a hate crime. Then she went public to a local TV station.

“If cases like mine were not being labeled as a hate crime, that meant that many more similar incidents were being mislabeled and dismissed,” Lee said.

Peter Kerre founded Safe Walks NYC in January 2021. He created an Instagram page, setting up a program of volunteers to walk with people to and from transit stops in Brooklyn. In May 2021 Safe Walks expanded to cover Manhattan below 59th St.

Esther Lee, who was attacked on the New York subway system, details her experience and the police department’s failure to appropriately handle her case.

“Communities were eager for public safety solutions that did not involve law enforcement. Safe Walks was a great fit, especially for women of color, many of whom reported having negative interactions with the New York Police Department,” Kerre said.

During an Ethnic Media Services press call last week, Kerre told reporters that in most cases victims were alone. “Not only in the subway but walking from the subway or walking elsewhere in the city,” he said.

“So simply having an extra person with you will make a very big difference.” Kerre said if people feel unsafe, a volunteer can ride with them on the subway.

However, it has not solved “the massive intersection of crises” that are at the root of the problem and ever-present on New York subways, says Kerre.

First of those: all the hate crimes mainly targeting the Asian American and Pacific Islander community (AAPI).

Second, all the mentally ill people on the street. Third, all the homeless who are in crisis due to unemployment and financial hardships, and then there is the “elephant in the room”: a breakdown in trust between law enforcement and the community.

“They’ve been flooding the New York subways with a massive police presence, increasing surveillance cameras and extracting the unhoused and unwell folks from the transit system but there’s been no indication of what’s being done with them. Many times they end up back within the subway system.”

Collecting data on ridership, ethnicity, and gender would help define the problem but so far New York officials haven’t done that like in California.

“What Senate Bill 434 would do is require that California’s top 10 largest public transit systems collect data from their passengers on the problem of harassment and uncomfortable behavior,” says California State Senator David Min. Min, the only Kirean American in the California Senate, is Vice Chair of the California Asian and Pacific Islander (API) Legislative Caucus continued on page 4

By Ben Jealous

flammable liquid; other cars carried butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate, and isobutylene. The spills from the wreck have left a long chemical plume moving down the Ohio River at about a mile an hour. The result has been at least 3,500 fish killed. The train’s owner Norfolk Southern said it is removing contaminated soil at the crash site, which can leach toxic chemicals into the water and air, after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) raised questions.

People around East Palestine, Ohio, have been warned not to run their vacuum cleaners.

That was the reality two weeks after a train derailment in the village of about 4,700 people near the border with Pennsylvania that damaged public health and the environment in ways that still aren’t fully known.

Pennsylvania’s health department has told residents that data from its air quality monitoring “do not indicate a potential for long-term health effects,” but if people choose to vacuum after their evacuation they should do so “small amounts at a time and take frequent breaks by walking outdoors.” As confusing as those messages may be, Ohioans have gotten even less information from that state’s government.

Five of the derailed cars contained nearly 1 million pounds of vinyl chloride, a toxic

The immediate need is to respond to make sure that harm to people, wildlife, and waters now and in the future are limited to the extent we are able. As a starting point, residents need clear, understandable answers about risks they face and support to which they are entitled. While federal authorities generally defer to state officials in disasters, the simmering mistrust caused by the strange odors residents say they smell, the soreness of their throats, and the aching in their heads seems to cry out for a different response.

The EPA and Transportation Department must ensure that Norfolk Southern meets its obligation to make things right. The Sierra Club’s Ohio director Ericka Copeland captured it – “East Palestine and the surrounding communities in Ohio and Pennsylvania deserve full transparency from the EPA, continued on page 6