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
whom they suppress.
—Fredrick Douglass (1849)Maxim Elramsisy | California Black Media
provides objective, reasonable guidance that prevents CCW permits from being issued to dangerous individuals and provides a list of places where weapons may not be carried,” said Portantino. “The presence of firearms in public increases the dangers of intentional or accidental gun violence—at the workplace, at the movies, or on the road. One study showed that states with permissive right-tocarry laws experience 29% more workplace homicides than states with more restrictive licensing requirements.”
During the hearing, opposition came from handfuls of law enforcement groups, particularly from the southern part of the state, including the Los Angeles Police Officers Association and the Orange County Sheriffs Association.
asked Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna about the proposed bill.
“I believe we have to change the status quo when it comes to guns because there's way too much gun violence,” he said. “I don't want to take guns away from legal gun owners, but I always believe that there has to be a path to doing it right.”
The threat of legal challenges is almost certain.
“Any law that we passed through the Legislature, someone can bring a challenge to. That's not a unique circumstance. This bill will probably be challenged,” said Portantino. “But do we believe it's constitutional?
urged them to act on gun control.
Later this week, Jones’ former colleague, Democrat Justin Pearson, could also be re-seated after the GOP ousted him.
The pair protested the lack of action by the Republican-led body on gun control following a school shooting in Nashville that left three elementary school students and three adults dead.
The Louisville shooting is just the latest in a string of mass shootings that have rocked the nation in recent years, with gun violence continuing to be a divisive and contentious issue.
Some politicians and interest groups have pushed back against calls for stricter gun control. They say that doing so would violate their rights under the Second Amendment.
As the nation mourns the victims of the Louisville shooting and grapples with the ongoing issue of gun violence, many are left wondering when, if ever, meaningful action will be taken to address the issue.
“Until then, the country will continue to mourn the loss of innocent lives and search for solutions to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future,” stated the Rev. Mark Thompson, host of Make It Plain.
“This isn’t going away,” Thompson asserted.
“This is a movement. This is going to build and grow. You can’t do this; it’s not sustainable. I’m not sure the movement will stop if the two Justins are re-seated. This is bad for the national Republican Party.”
On March 28, one day after three children and three adults were shot at the Covenant School, a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tenn., the California Senate Public Safety Committee heard arguments for and against Senate Bill (SB) 2, legislation proposing enhancements to California’s existing concealed carry permit law.
“God bless the families of those little kids,” said the bill's author, Senator Anthony Portantino (D-Burbank) at the hearing.
“Gun violence inflicts a terrible toll on our communities. Last year, nearly 20,000 people were killed in gun related homicides in the United States. To put that in perspective, it's enough people to fill forty Boeing 747s, and sadly, the number keeps rising.”
SB 2 would make 21 the required age to apply for a Concealed Carry Weapon (CCW), although existing state legislation restricts the sales of pistols to people under 21. A system of appeals would also be created for people initially denied the permit. The bill would also limit where people can carry firearms, creating locations called “sensitive sites”
where guns would be prohibited. Property owners of sites where guns are off limits would have the authority to allow guns if they choose.
California’s prior concealed carry permit law, which required that applicants show reason for needing to carry a concealed firearm, was deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court last year in the case of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen.
In a 6-3 vote, the high court's conservative majority ruled that "may-issue" systems, like those used in New York, California and three other states using "arbitrary" evaluations of need, made by local authorities, are unconstitutional. States are, however, allowed to enforce "shall-issue" permitting, where applicants for concealed carry permits must satisfy certain objective criteria, such as passing a background check.
“Bruen affirmed the ability of states to keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous individuals and out of certain sensitive places. With SB 2, California does just that. It
“Addressing Bruen in this way is unnecessarily complicated and overly burdensome,” said California State Sheriffs' Association Legislative Director Cory Salzillo. “Given what we've seen in other states, it is likely to be challenged and probably overturned in whole or in part.”
In the nation's most populous county, the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department (LASD) is responsible for taking applications and issuing CCWs. Though the Sheriff did not endorse the bill publicly, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors did, and in a written statement to California Black Media (CBM) the LASD appeared to tacitly support the bill.
“Recently, several of our California Government leaders have joined together to announce new gun legislation which would enhance gun safety laws in California. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has partnered with the Board of Supervisors on the added gun safety measures and how we can bring awareness to the communities we serve,” the statement said.
Before the hearing, CBM
Absolutely. We looked at the Bruen decision as a roadmap to create a constitutionally sound approach. The Supreme Court said you can't be arbitrary, so this bill is not arbitrary. It's creating concrete criteria of who should and shouldn't be eligible to get this responsibility of having a concealed carry permit, that's consistent with the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court said you can have prohibited places. This bill has prohibited places that make sense.”
The Bill was advanced through the committee after a 4-1 vote and will next be heard on April 10 by the Committee on Appropriations.
In 2022, California Gov. Gavin Newsom endorsed Senate Bill (SB) 918, also authored by Portantino with provisions similar to SB 2. That bill failed to pass in the Legislature.
In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill last week making the Sunshine State the 25th state to allow concealed carry with virtually no extra permitting or stipulations. Newsom, who spent time in Florida during the week, strongly criticized the action. “Don’t be fooled by the @GOP lies. Permit-less carry does not make you safer. States with open carry laws have higher gun violence rates,” Newsom said on Twitter.
On NNPA’s Let It Be Known, Rev. Mark Thompson, the host of Make it Plain and an NNPA contributor, stated, “My understanding is that the Nashville National City Council will re-seat Jones, and I believe the Memphis Council will meet later in the week to discuss Pearson.”
Ousted Tennessee Democratic State legislators Justin Jones and Justin Pearson appear headed for re-appointment to their seats by the local councils in their constituencies.
Nashville’s metro council plans a vote today that could send Jones back to his seat, while the Shelby County commission expects to take up a motion on Wednesday that would return Pearson.
The expulsion of the two Democrats, who vociferously called on their colleagues to act on gun control after the latest school shooting in Nashville that claimed the lives of three elementary school students and three adults.
The backlash has been palpable, and even some Republicans have expressed regret for the actions of party members and House Speaker Cameron Sexton, who led the vote to oust Jones and Pearson.
host of Make it Plain and an NNPA contributor, returned to Tennessee on Monday for the vote to re-seat Jones, his longtime friend. On NNPA’s Let It Be Known, Thompson stated, “My understanding is that the Nashville National City Council will re-seat Jones, and I believe the Memphis Council will meet later in the week to discuss Pearson.” Thompson noted that most, if not all, flights to Nashville have been sold out, signaling the large demonstrations ahead.
“This isn’t going away,” Thompson asserted.
“This is a movement. This is going to build and grow. You can’t do this, it’s not sustainable. I’m not sure that if the two Justins are re-seated the movement will stop. This is bad for the national Republican party.”
ongoing issue of gun violence, many are left wondering when, if ever, meaningful action will be taken to address the issue.
In the wake of still another mass shooting in America, this time at an Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky, the nation is left reeling. At least four people were killed,
and eight others were injured, two of whom are in critical condition.
The shooter, who police believe had a connection to the bank, is dead, and authorities are working to establish the motive behind the
shooting.
Police responded quickly to the call this morning, arriving within three minutes of the first reports. They encountered the shooter almost immediately and exchanged gunfire, which ultimately led to the shooter’s death.
Police are still investigating whether the shooter died from the gunfire or a self-inflicted wound.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear expressed grief over losing two close friends in the shooting and having another friend injured.
The bank where the shooting occurred is also his bank, making the tragedy even more personal for him.
The mayor of Louisville, Craig Greenberg, asked people to pray for those fighting for their lives.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, said he was heartbroken when he heard the news.
Officials apprised President Joe Biden of the shooting, and the White House has said there will be more details to share later.
The shooting comes as a Nashville City Council is expected to decide whether to reinstate former Tennessee Democratic state Rep. Justin Jones, whom Republican majority leaders ousted after he
“If my job, along with other members of the R.N.C., is to protect the brand of the Republican Party, this didn’t help,” Oscar Brock, a Republican National Committeeman from Tennessee, told the New York Times. “You’ve energized young voters against us. Worse than squandering support, you’ve made enemies where we didn’t need them.”
He continued: “Even in Tennessee, we have swing districts in the State House and Senate, and if you’ve angered tens of thousands of students and presumably their parents, you could theoretically expose yourself to a united front,” Brock demanded.
Rev. Mark Thompson, the
Phyllis Qualls, who’s covering the proceedings for the Tennessee Tribune, said the G.O.P. leadership miscalculated in expelling Jones and Pearson.
“Republicans had no vision as to the aftermath of what they can do,” Qualls said. “Mom has always said, ‘what’s done in the dark will come out in the light.’
The Republicans took a major issue like gun control and reduced it to decorum. It’s almost like children in the car complaining that ‘Mom, he’s looking at me.’ The crimes don’t equate, and to do this during holy week, you crucified these men, and they are rising to a level that nobody expected. They have become leaders of the gun control issue, and it was the Republicans who caused that.”
As the nation mourns the victims of the Louisville shooting and grapples with the
"Support for this model of an urban water stewardship project is something all of our elected policymakers should be advocating. This needs to be at the forefront of their priorities," said Rialto Mayor Deborah Robertson.
the community.
Mayor Robertson said, “Rialto residents can look forward to enjoying the lake's open spaces, walking trails and environmental education programs. Special programs for children will enable them to get a taste of the great outdoors right in their own city.
Support for this model of an urban water stewardship project is something all of our elected policymakers should be advocating. This needs to be at the forefront of their priorities.”
LOS ANGELES — A teacher at a Fontana middle school can be heard repeatedly using a racial slur during an exchange with a student in class that was captured on video.
The video that was posted last week on Facebook by a parent of one of the students in the classroom shows a teacher from Sequoia Middle School standing over a student’s desk and saying the N-word while trying to get the student to say the word.
“Say it,” the teacher tells the student as the student looks toward the floor and classmates can be heard giggling in the background. “Why? You asked me how to spell it, so go ahead and pronounce it: n—. Pronounce it after me: n—. n—.”
Students told KABC-TV that the class was reading and discussing a Mark Twain novel that contains the racial slur when the student asked the teacher how to spell the N-word.
It’s unclear when the incident occurred, but the video has been widely shared on social media, prompting Fontana Unified School District officials to send a message Thursday to parents. Superintendent Miki R. Inbody called the incident an “unfortunate exchange” between the student and teacher.
“While the use of the word was in connection to its use in a historical literary work, there was a lack of understanding regarding the emotional impact of using this word could have on our students,” Inbody said in a message posted on the school district website. “We understand that such incidents can be hurtful and upsetting, especially for students who come from diverse backgrounds.”
Inbody said the school district is looking to take steps to prevent similar incidents from taking place. She didn’t identify the teacher, or say whether the teacher had been disciplined.
Officials at the school district and Sequoia Middle School did not respond to requests for comment.
In her message to parents, Inbody said officials would be providing training to school district staff, including administrators, teachers and staff “to understand the importance of creating an inclusive and respectful learning environment.” She said the school district would also be working with the city of Fontana to create a community event to “come together in support of a more cohesive and compassionate community.”
Architect's rendering of Lake Rialto project. Mayor Robertson said, “Rialto residents can look forward to enjoying the lake's open spaces, hiking trails and environmental education programs. Special programs for children will enable them to get a taste of the great outdoors right in their own city.
Rialto, Calif. – _The City of Rialto receives $2 million in federal funding to support its Lake Rialto habitat project. Congressman Pete Aguilar secured the funds for the program. The Congressman said, “Ensuring our residents can enjoy safe and clean open spaces for outdoor recreation is necessary to create a healthier, more sustainable community.
“This funding I helped secure will help construct Lake Rialto, 10 acres of lake, wetlands and trails, that will protect vulnerable species and play a vital role in the environmental success for the Santa Ana River Habitat Conservation Plan.” This brings total funding for the $8 million project to more than $5 million, thanks to additional funding sources.
The environmentally beneficial project includes the creation of wetlands and wildlife
habitats on city-owned property adjacent to the City of Rialto Water Treatment Plant, which will provide recycled water for the lake itself, which then flows into the environmentally critical Rialto Channel.
Rialto Mayor Deborah Robertson said, “The project design is now 90% complete and we hope to break ground this coming fall.”
The endangered Santa Ana sucker and Arroyo chub swim from the Santa Ana River up the Rialto Channel during cooler weather, but during hotter days, the water can be too warm for the fish. Because of the depth of the lake, much needed cooler water can be taken from the bottom of the lake and discharged into the Rialto Channel, providing potentially significant environmental benefits to critical species. The City of Rialto has worked diligently with potential partnering agencies to explore and maximize all of the environmental benefits of this project.
The lake will also provide a welcome habitat for seasonal wildfowl who migrate to and from Mexico on the Pacific Flyway, providing abundant birdwatching opportunities for
We're so very pleased and honored that Congressman Aguilar has supported this leading-edge project to create an infrastructure that will serve as an environmentally sensitive and attractive recreational facility and wildlife habitat.
The City of Rialto has grown a lot in recent years with its ongoing development projects. Now, Lake Rialto adds to an impressive list of commercial and residential projects, a different kind of addition to the City's assets that demonstrates that it “walks the talk” when it comes to planning environmentally sensitive development.
her author’s statement.
California teachers could get a last-minute reprieve from a law that requires them to take additional courses to teach transitional kindergarten.
Assembly Bill 1555, authored by Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, would give transitional kindergarten teachers, hired after July 1, 2015, two more years to either take at least 24 units in early childhood education, earn a child development teacher permit or early childhood education specialist credential, or prove they have adequate experience teaching preschool-age children. The current deadline is Aug. 1 of this year.
“Teachers are having a difficult time completing 24 credit units, while also teaching full time as well as all the other responsibilities they have in their life,” Quirk-Silva said in
California, already in the midst of a teacher shortage, will need 15,000 additional teachers to fill transitional kindergarten positions as the grade is expanded across the state to include all 4-year-old children by 2025. The bill delaying the requirements will help to ensure there are enough teachers to fill the TK classrooms, Quirk-Silva said at an Assembly Education Committee meeting Wednesday.
“I’m very interested in making sure we have the teachers with the background they need for early childhood education, but that we don’t discourage them from moving down (to TK classes),” she said.
The bill passed the Assembly Education Committee Wednesday and was sent to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for further review. The post Bill Would Give Tk Teachers 2 More Years To Take Early Childhood Education Classes first appeared on Post News Group. This article originally appeared in Post News Group.
Newsom said.
Report: Black Students
Among Students with Highest Absenteeism Rates
The Public Policy Institute of California is reporting that absenteeism is on the rise among all students in California, and Black children are among the top sub-groups of kids who miss school the most.
Absenteeism rose substantially for nearly all student groups. However, we do see variation across demographic dimensions.
Among racial/ethnic groups, Black, Native American, and Pacific Islander students experienced the highest rates of chronic absenteeism, exceeding 40% in 2021-22,” the report reads.
Read the full report at: https://www.ppic.org/blog/ exploring-the-spike-in-chronicabsenteeism-among-k-12students/
The report includes both unexcused and excused absences.
Gov. Newsom Announces
$736 Million in Funding for Local Communities
Keeping his promise to fast track solutions addressing California’s stubborn homelessness crisis, last week Gov. Gavin Newsom announced $736 million in grants to be channeled directly to local communities for building or acquiring shelter for unhoused people.
“At a time when more housing is desperately needed, Homekey is proving that we can build faster, and at a fraction of conventional construction costs,”
“My Administration has made available an unprecedented $3.4 billion to date for Homekey to use at the local level to address housing and homelessness. I look forward to seeing more communities use this latest round of funding to boost housing around the state,” the governor added.
Project Homekey is a state government initiative that
political stances and a candidate in the competitive race to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein in the November 2024 general election.
“No one is above the law,” emphasized Lee, the highestranking African-American woman in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Last week after a jury found
aims to quickly provide shelter to individuals experiencing homelessness. To date, it has successfully provided shelter for nearly 12,800 formerly unhoused individuals across the state.
Rep. Lee Releases Statement on Trump Indictment
After a New York grand jury reportedly indicted former President Donald J. Trump on more than 30 counts of business fraud last week, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12) said she hopes the action was the “beginning of our justice system holding him and all involved in these crimes accountable.”
“This is the first time a former president has been indicted in American history, and this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Trump’s alleged crimes — before, during, and after his one term as president,” said Lee, an outspoken progressive known for her Left-leaning
former Los Angeles City Councilmember Mark RidleyThomas guilty on corruption charges, California’s Black elected officials issued statements acknowledging RidleyThomas’s political leadership, many contributions to his constituents and his track record of unapologetically advocating for policies that advanced racial equity and improved the lives of African Americans in the state.
“I am compelled to share my appreciation for the civic contributions of Mark RidleyThomas. Mark Ridley-Thomas has devoted his professional life to serving the people of Los Angeles. He has invested his time and energy to empower and uplift his community and constituents for decades,” said Sen. Steve Bradford (D-Gardena), chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus in a statement.
“His relentless commitment
White
By PeterAbove: All of Us or None Co-founder Dorsey Nunn, Brilliant Corners Chief Program Officer Chris Contreras, and One Fair Wage President Saru Jayaraman. The three are among six winners of the James Irvine Foundation 2023 Leadership Awards.
They imagined a world that didn’t exist yet and went about building it.
That was the common theme from three community organizers whose work proves that change really can happen through grassroots efforts, despite gridlocked legislatures, polarized politics and economic uncertainty.
The three organizers, among six who recently received the James Irvine Foundation 2023 Leadership Awards, spoke on Ethnic Media Services’ weekly national news briefing last week.
Criminal justice reform
Dorsey Nunn runs Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and co-founded a parallel non-profit, All of Us or None. A criminal justice reformer who set up a small nonprofit for people – like himself – who are or were formerly incarcerated to fight for prisoner rights, Nunn operates a staff of 29 people, including four attorneys, as well as a network of chapters across the US.
His organization spearheaded the “Ban the Box” campaign that has stopped questions about conviction history from public employment applications in 50 cities in 35 states.
“We are building a powerful political movement to win full restoration of our human and civil rights,” Nunn said. Honest conversations about discrimination need to be about why it doesn’t stop once someone leaves prison. “When
is my penalty up?” Nunn asked. “People can only see us as a liability; they have yet to see us as an asset. At what point can we actually demonstrate that you can’t lock up 2 million people without locking up brilliance, without throwing away a lot of people?”
Nunn added that the transformation in perception has to occur among people who are themselves incarcerated.
“The greatest victory for me is when formerly incarcerated people show up and recognize that they got something to actually do to change not only their life, but to change how society functions.
“I’m a father, a grandfather and a great grandfather. At this point none of my kids have been to prison, and I interrupted that process because I was at home to take care of them,” he said.
Improving conditions for service workers
Saru Jayaraman is the President of One Fair Wage and Director of the Food Labor Research Center at University of California, Berkeley. She started a national movement of restaurant workers, employers, and consumers after 9-11.
Jayaraman was a young lawyer in 2001 when she started organizing workers who lost their jobs and the families of the victims from Windows on the World, the restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center Tower.
continued on page 8
Forbes Technology Council
By BlackPressUSACliff Albright and LaTosha Brown, Co-Founders of Black Voters Matter and April EnglandAlbright, National Legal Director of Black Voters Matter issue the following statement on the expulsion of Black Tennessee lawmakers
The recent expulsion of Tennessee Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson for protesting gun control within the state, after the recent murder of elementary students and school staff during the recent school shooting, is racist, wrong and reminiscent of the removal of Black elected officials following the Reconstruction era. This punitive measure not only silences the voices of elected representatives, but also deprives the predominantly Black voters in those legislative districts of their right to be heard on crucial issues affecting their lives.
We applaud the community members who protested at the legislature in order to demand action on gun violence, and we commend Reps. Jones, Pearson and Johnson for supporting such civil disobedience. Their actions are in the same spirit of making “good trouble” that John Lewis encouraged us all to follow. For Republican lawmakers to call these actions a “temper tantrum” and “insurrection”, while they have simultaneously complemented and defended January 6 terrorists whose actions
actually led to multiple deaths, is an affront to the countless victims whose lives have been tragically cut short as a result of gun violence.
Black Voters Matter joins the people of Tennessee, led by determined youth, in demanding that the Tennessee legislature spend less time trying to “season” and “break in” young Black leaders and spend more time passing laws that will safeguard our communities from the ongoing crisis of gun violence. In the meantime, we are committed to assisting the voters in these districts to return Reps. Jones and Pearson to the rightful positions.
Black Voters Matter, a 501c4, and Capacity Building Institute, a 501c3, are dedicated to expanding Black voter engagement and increasing progressive power through movement-building and engagement. Working with grassroots organizations, specifically in key states in the South, BVM seeks to increase voter registration and turnout, advocate for policies to expand voting rights/access, and help develop infrastructure where little or none exists to support a power-building movement that keeps Black voters and their issues at the forefront of our election process. For more information, please visit https:// www.blackvotersmatterfund. org/.
April 6, 2023-In 2023, “March Madness” took on a new meaning. Traditionally known as the nation’s premier college basketball competition, this year that moniker could also describe the madness that sprang from the closure of two banks with combined assets of $322 billion that affected consumers and small businesses in over 15 states.
Edwige Robinson, Senior Vice President of Network Engineering & Operations and Transformation of the Central Region at T-Mobile US
Forbes Technology Council is an Invitation-Only Community for World-Class CIOs, CTOs and Technology Executives. Chicago, IL — Edwige Robinson, Senior Vice President of Network Engineering & Operations and Transformation of the Central Region at T-Mobile US has joined the Forbes Technology Council, an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs, and technology executives. She is responsible for 23 states with a P&L of several billion dollars, leading more than 5,000 employees and contractors who design, build, and maintain a cutting-edge 5G Network. She works across the business to create strategy that enables sustainable growth, closes the digital divide and supports emerging AI products and technologies. She was vetted and selected by a review committee based on the depth and diversity of her experience. Criteria for acceptance include a track record of successfully impacting business growth metrics, as well
as personal and professional achievements and honors.
“We are honored to welcome Edwige into the community,” said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, the collective that includes Forbes Technology Council. “Our mission with Forbes Councils is to bring together proven leaders from every industry, creating a curated, social capital-driven network that helps every member grow professionally and make an even greater impact on the business world.”
As an accepted member of the Council, she will connect and collaborate with other respected local leaders in a private forum. Edwige will also be invited to work with a professional editorial team to share her expert insights in original business articles on Forbes.com, and to contribute to published Q&A panels alongside other experts.
“I am honored to join this community of accomplished technology executives to exchange ideas that help to change our world,” Edwige Robinson, SVP of Network Engineering & Operations and Transformation. “The Forbes brand has always stood for excellence and I have excited to lend my expertise to those who look to it help then on their career journey.”
For more information about Forbes Technology Council, visit forbestechcouncil.com. To learn more about Forbes Councils, visit forbescouncils.com.
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), established in 1983, grew its operations to 15 states by 1996 -- from California to New York, north to Washington state to as far south as Texas and Florida.
In December 2022, its assets totaled $212 billion and the bank employed over 8,500 people.
But on March 8 in an attempt to improve its own liquidity, SVB instead incurred a $1.8 billion loss. The next business day, a run of bank withdrawals totaled $40 billion. And on March 10, SVB was forced to close and became the second-largest bank failure since Washington Mutual in 2008.
Similarly, Signature Bank, founded in 2001 as a commercial bank headquartered in New York City, grappled with its own problems that also led to a March closure. Signature Bank had 40 branches and 1,800 employees throughout the New York metropolitan area, Connecticut, North Carolina, California and Nevada, in addition to its online banking services. In December 2022, the bank had assets of $110.4 billion and total deposits of $88.6 billion.
Only days after SVB’s closure, Signature, with heavy concentrations of investments in private equity ($28 billion in loans) and commercial businesses like cryptocurrency, experienced its own $10 billion run on deposits. With an estimated 90 percent of its deposits uninsured, according to Barron’s, Signature’s stock dropped 50 percent. On March 12, it was forced to close, and
$322 billion bank failures become a different ‘March Madness’ ...continued the Community Reinvestment Act and loans made to people of color.”
Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, chair of his chamber’s Banking Committee, shared similar concerns.
“In less than a day, Silicon Valley Bank customers pulled $42 billion out of the bank –fueled by venture capitalists and their social media accounts,” said Sen. Brown. “They created the largest and fastest bank run in history. In the following days, Signature Bank lost $17.8 billion.”
After noting that Silicon Valley Bank’s executive pay was tied to profits and the bank operated without a risk officer for more than a year, Chairman Brown pointed the proverbial financial finger at the bank executives who took on high risk that fed their collective greed.
“Wealthy elites do anything to make a quick profit and pocket the rewards. And when their risky behavior leads to catastrophic failures, they turn to the government asking for help, expecting workers and taxpayers to pay the price.”
Michael Barr, who testified before Senate Banking on March 28, testified on behalf of the Federal Reserve System’s Board of Governors, as its vice chair for supervision. Calling for transparency and full accountability with recent bank failures, Barr announced an investigative report on supervisory assessments and exam materials would be made public by May 1.
“SVB failed because the bank’s management did not
effectively manage its interest rate and liquidity risk, and the bank then suffered a devastating and unexpected run by its uninsured depositors in a period of less than 24 hours,” testified Barr. “SVB’s failure demands a thorough review of what happened, including the Federal Reserve’s oversight of the bank.”
Speaking before the National Association for Business Economics on March 30, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen weighed in on the recent closures:
“When the President and I took office in January 2021, we inherited a financial stability apparatus at Treasury that had been decimated,” said Yellen. “Over the past two years, I have made it a top priority to rebuild the financial stability infrastructure at Treasury.”
“Our prosperity depends on the work to safeguard financial stability before a crisis occurs –just as the implementation of a strong fire code can prevent a fire from breaking out,” concluded Yellen.
Consumers and small businesses affected by these closures are urged by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to remain watchful of scams and frauds. These scams often begin by seeking personal information while posing as representatives from Signature Bank, Signature Bridge Bank, N.A., or the FDIC.
More related information is available online: http://www. fdic.gov/resources/resolutions/ bank-failures/failed-bank-list/. A 24-hour toll-free call center is also available by dialing: 1-866744-5463.
The state today filed a motion to amend its March 8 housing lawsuit against Huntington Beach
Since California filed its lawsuit, the City of Huntington Beach rescinded its illegal ban on SB 9 and ADU applications but refused to adopt a housing element in violation of state law, jeopardizing affordable housing opportunities for its residents
became the third-largest bank failure in the nation since 2008.
Many might wonder how costly bank failures could occur when 2008’s Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was created to prevent such financial calamities.
Congressional leaders want answers to that question.
“[T]hese events are a wakeup call,” said Maxine Waters, a California Congresswoman and Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee. “We must uncover how management, regulatory, and supervisory failures contributed to these events and explore solutions to strengthen the safety and soundness of our banks. Small business owners should not be expected to serve as a financial regulator when paying their employees, and community banks and minority depository institutions should not have to pay for the failures of bank mismanagement at SVB or Signature Bank.”
Rep. Waters also decried efforts to shift blame for the collapse from bank management and panicked investors onto socalled “woke” capitalism, as signified by the presence of one person of color on the board of directors of Silicon Valley Bank. “Silicon Valley Bank collapsed because of management failures and possible regulatory weaknesses – not because there was one Black man on the board,” said Rep. Waters. “We saw this same racist playbook during the 2008 financial crisis when some Republicans blamed
Governor Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) today filed a motion to amend the state’s lawsuit against Huntington Beach in order to hold the City accountable for violating the state Housing Element Law. California originally filed the lawsuit on March 8, arguing that the city’s ban on the processing of SB 9 and Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) applications violated state housing laws and must be struck down. As a result of the state’s lawsuit, the Huntington Beach City Council reversed course and voted on March 21 to resume processing SB 9 and ADU project applications.
However, at a meeting on April 4, the City Council once again violated state housing law by failing to adopt a housing element that is 16 months overdue – a decision that jeopardizes critical affordable housing opportunities for Huntington Beach residents.
Today, the state submitted an amended complaint in People of California v. City of Huntington Beach, arguing that the city is in violation of the state Housing Element Law, and seeking both penalties and injunctive relief. The state also intends to seek temporary relief against the city as authorized by statute, including, among other things, the suspension of the city’s permitting authority and mandating the approval of certain residential projects until the city comes into compliance with the law. Although the state is no longer seeking a preliminary injunction due to
the city’s about-face on SB 9 and ADU applications, the amended complaint does also seek a declaration from the court that the city’s previous ban on SB 9 and ADU applications was unlawful and may not be reinstated.
“Huntington Beach continues to fail its residents,” said Governor Newsom. “Every city and county needs to do their part to bring down the high housing and rent costs that are impacting families across this state. California will continue taking every step necessary to ensure everyone is building their fair share of housing and not flouting state housing laws at the expense of the community.”
“California is in the midst of a housing crisis, and time and time again, Huntington Beach has demonstrated they are part of the problem by defiantly refusing every opportunity to provide essential housing for its own residents,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The City’s refusal last week to adopt a housing element in accordance with state law is just the latest in a string of willfully illegal actions by the city – decisions that worsen our housing crisis and harm taxpayers and Huntington Beach residents. We won’t stand idly by as Huntington Beach continues to flagrantly violate state housing laws designed to bring crucial affordable housing opportunities to our communities. We’ll use every legal tool available to hold the city accountable and enforce state housing laws.”
“More housing is the path to ending and reducing
About 9.5% of respondents were Black knowledge workers, and the authors called it disheartening to see that they’re disproportionately affected by the ever-rising costs of living.
Black workers prioritize their mental well-being more than any other racial group, according to a survey by the employment platform Oyster.
The platform surveyed more than 2,500 desk-based – or socalled knowledge employees — and found that more than 58 % of Black workers globally chose their mental well-being as their top priority.
Asian respondents came in second at 37.7 %.
“Bearing the brunt of systemic racism, prejudice, and societal injustice, perhaps Black knowledge workers must put more energy into protecting their mental health and can less afford to spend it elsewhere,” the report stated.
Study authors found the ability of Black knowledge workers to focus has suffered because of external factors like the rising cost of living and health concerns, particularly in America, Western Europe, and Canada.
For instance, 60.1 % of Black workers struggle with the cost of living, the survey found.
About 9.5% of respondents were Black knowledge workers,
and the authors called it disheartening to see that they’re disproportionately affected by the ever-rising costs of living.
“In fact, Black workers are more affected by pretty much every category than other racial groups, notably by global health concerns – 41.6% of Black workers (compared to 14.8% of white workers) were very concerned about this, compared office in many cases, against their will,” the authors wrote.
But nothing came close to spiraling living costs and personal concerns when factoring in the top external stressors, which the authors said was true across genders and geographies.
White workers reported being least affected in nearly every category – an example of privilege in practice, the authors concluded.
“What privilege does do is protect certain populations from being as negatively affected when taken as a group,” the authors noted.
They said the racial wage disparity present at many companies (and in society in general) means it’s logical that
By Bay City News
Black workers are more affected by rising costs of living.
Systemic racism in healthcare and legislative environments means it’s logical that Black workers are more affected by health concerns and political instability.
Additional findings of the report:
55% of Black workers see a safe, inclusive work environment as very important, almost 14 percentage points higher than their white colleagues.
63 % of Black employees indicated that regular raises affect their well-being at work, compared to 48.3% of white workers.
Black employees value access to mental health support (64%) more than their white colleagues (22%).
Across all genders and geographies, the rising cost of living (75%) and personal worries or concerns (74%) are the top stressors impacting employees’ ability to focus on work, followed by:
Global health concerns (61%)
Economic downturn (55%)
War and conflict (35%)
Political instability (34%)
Climate change (23%)
Black knowledge workers’ ability to focus on work is disproportionately affected by these external factors, more than any other racial group. Most critically:
60% of Black employees report struggling with the rising costs of living, compared to their Hispanic (46%), Asian (39%), and white (30%) colleagues.
Global health concerns impact 42% of Black workers, compared to 15% of white workers.
Younger generations are almost twice as affected by rising living costs and personal concerns than their Gen X colleagues.
“Our data broken down by race was also very revealing. Black employees valued a safe working environment almost 14 percentage points more than their white colleagues and were 20 percentage points more in favor of check-ins with their manager,” the study revealed.
“These employees also placed far more emphasis on regular raises (63.0% compared to 48.3% of white workers), which tracks given that our data also found Black workers were the most concerned with rising costs of living.”
The authors concluded:
“What we’re seeing is a greater need to support, include, and create equitable work environments so all employees can thrive. At the very least, managers should be aware that Black employees on their team may appreciate more face time and encouragement and be ready to provide this support as needed.”
If a public opinion poll done last month is right, more than half of you won’t know what I mean by the initials “ESG,” and fewer than one in 10 will understand what they mean for financial markets. But listening to some self-interested politicians, many of whom have ties to our dirtiest industries, you’d think ESG was a significant threat to the American way of life.
For the record, ESG refers to responsible investing that considers companies’ environmental, social, and governance practices. That’s actually something most Americans support. More than half of us think financial managers should be allowed to consider environmental factors, climate threats, and the risk involved in fossil fuels’ future and that states should invest public retirement funds in clean energy. More than eight in 10 of us who invest for ourselves want sustainable options for our savings, Morgan Stanley reported.
In economics class, we called that demand.
In his 2022 annual letter to CEOs, Larry Fink, chairman of the world’s largest investment adviser BlackRock, called it “stakeholder” capitalism. “It is capitalism, driven by mutually beneficial relationships between you and the employees, customers, suppliers, and communities your company relies on to prosper. This is
Ben Jealous
the power of capitalism,” he wrote, adding, “We focus on sustainability not because we’re environmentalists, but because we are capitalists and fiduciaries to our clients. That requires understanding how companies are adjusting their businesses for the massive changes the economy is undergoing.”
Perversely, Fink has been pilloried by right-wing politicians as a green ideologue when his firm claims to be the largest single investor in fossil fuel companies on the planet. These same politicians are trying to prohibit this kind of responsible investing through state and federal laws. They argue they are fighting for free market capitalism when really they are limiting investors’ freedom to choose and the information that they need to make decisions. It’s not free markets, it’s political pressure.
California Sues Huntington Beach for Violating State Housing Element Law...continued from page 3
The founder of a widely used money transfer application was stabbed to death in San Francisco early Tuesday morning.
Bob Lee, 43, was identified by friends and co-workers on social media as the victim of the 2:35 a.m. stabbing, which occurred in the 300 block of Main Street.
Lee was known for creating Cash App, which is a way to send and receive money via smartphone.
The tech community and others in San Francisco and beyond reacted online at the sudden news. No arrest has been made in the case as of Wednesday morning.
Lee’s LinkedIn profile describes him as a “startup advisor and angel investor,” the creator of Cash App, former chief technology officer at the payment platform Square and the current chief product officer at MobileCoin, a crypto wallet app.
Joshua Goldbard, founder of MobileCoin, wrote a long tribute to his friend and colleague on social media.
“Bob was so much more than a technologist. Bob was an artist. Everywhere he went Bob
breathed love into this world.
He had so much deep heartfelt love,” Goldbard wrote. “Bob’s energy was infectious. He made friends everywhere he went. One of the things that made him truly special was his capacity to dream big and to summon those big crazy dreams into our world.”
Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who represents the neighborhood where the fatal stabbing happened, said, “This is a senseless tragedy that I know is made worse by the fact that no suspect is yet in custody.”
He added, “I’ve also heard from many constituents in the area — some of whom have already voiced concerns to me about public safety challenges — and I’m asking everyone to cooperate with police in their investigation, especially those with access to surveillance video that may help.”
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said, “I want to extend my sincerest condolences to Mr. Lee’s family members & loved ones for his loss. We do not tolerate these horrific acts
of violence in San Francisco.”
Anyone with information about the fatal stabbing is asked to call the San Francisco police tip line at (415) 575-4444 or to send a tip by text message to TIP411 with “SFPD” at the start
of the message.
The post Tech Founder Killed in Stabbing Early Tuesday first appeared on Post News Group. This article originally appeared in Post News Group.
Tech Founder Killed in Stabbing Early Tuesday...continued homelessness but Huntington Beach continues to brazenly violate state housing laws-wasting valuable time and taxpayer money instead of working on solutions,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. “HCD is committed to ensuring every city and county follows state housing laws and fulfills their commitment to building housing for all.”
continued from page 2 to helping improve the lives of others through public service will always be worthy of our admiration and appreciation,” Bradford added.
I believe that this is a sad day for Los Angeles,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who worked with Thomas for more than 40 years. “And I feel that sadness personally,” she added. Bass described Ridley-Thomas as a “a policymaker who made a real impact.”
L.A. City Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson took to Twitter to express his appreciation for Ridley-Thomas.
“When those in power chose to forget our community, Mark Ridley-Thomas centered and uplifted us,” he wrote.
“I certainly think people are shocked and saddened by what they’ve read. But I’ve also heard people share how much respect they have for the work that Mark Ridley-Thomas has done.”
California Black Media Hosts Dinner Honoring Joe Stephenshaw
Last week, California Black Media hosted a reception honoring California’s Department of Finance (DOF) Director Joe Stephenshaw.
A number of state lawmakers, public officials, Black news publishers, journalists and others attended the event co-hosted by
the California Black Freedom fund and held at the Prelude Kitchen & Bar in downtown Sacramento.
“For us, this is one of those moments we deeply treasure when the leaders of the Black Press in California get to officially welcome, celebrate and interact with a top thought leader and decisionmaker in state government in an environment that is intimate and welcoming — no spotlights, no cameras, no fanfare,” said Regina Wilson, Executive Director, California Black Media.
“We exchanged ideas and talked freely about our challenges as we got a firsthand view into how our government is deploying our tax dollars in ways that directly impact the lives of the communities we serve,” Wilson added. “We look forward to working more closely with Joe and the Newsom administration on priorities that advance equity for Black Californians.”
Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Stephenshaw to the DOF role. In January, he made his first annual budget presentation as the state’s chief fiscal officer alongside the governor.
The post California Black Media News Roundup first appeared on Post News Group. This article originally appeared in Post News Group.
State law requires local governments to include housing elements in their general plans. A housing element must include, among other things, an assessment of housing needs, an inventory of resources and constraints relevant to meeting those needs, and a program to implement the policies, goals, and objectives of the housing element. The housing element is a crucial tool for building housing for moderate-, low-, and very low-income Californians. Huntington Beach has been out of compliance on its housing element since October 15, 2021, and last week in a 4-3 vote the City Council once again refused to adopt a draft housing element prepared by the city’s own staff. As a result, the state is seeking injunctive relief and penalties against the city for their ongoing failure to comply with state housing law.
Furthermore, under California’s Housing Accountability Act, cities that do not have a compliant housing element are subject to the socalled “Builder’s Remedy,” which allows project developers to submit housing projects with deed-restricted 20% low-income or 100% moderate-income without regard to local zoning and general plan standards.
Under the Builder’s Remedy provision, localities must approve these low- and moderate-income projects as long as they conform
with objective building and design standards and comply with California Environmental Quality Act and the Coastal Act. These laws allow localities to address any specific, legitimate environmental or health and safety concerns on a projectby-project basis. As Huntington Beach remains non-compliant with the state Housing Element Law, the Builder’s Remedy is in effect, and the city must approve Builder’s Remedy projects that meet the legal criteria.
The city previously attempted to skirt the Builder’s Remedy by proposing an ordinance to ban Builder’s Remedy projects. On February 13, HCD and the Attorney General warned the city’s planning commission that the proposed ordinance would violate state law. Attorney General Bonta and HCD continue to closely monitor the progress of the proposed ordinance, as well as the city’s actions on any Builder’s Remedy project applications submitted to the city, and stand ready to take legal action if necessary.
State leaders stand united in their commitment to defending and increasing access to affordable housing in California. In 2021, Attorney General Bonta announced the creation of a Housing Strike Force within the California Department of Justice aimed at advancing housing access across the state. The same year, Governor Newsom launched a Housing Accountability Unit to increase stringent enforcement and oversight at the local level to create more housing, faster across California. Members of the public are encouraged to visit the California Department of Justice’s Housing Portal and HCD’s website for more resources and information aimed at supporting access to housing.
In this economy, who has enough money for a down payment on a house?
Despite a projected $25 billion budget deficit, the state of California does. At least for now.
The California Housing Finance Agency is poised to launch a scaled-down version of its new shared equity home loan program on March 27. With the Dream for All program, the state plans to provide $300 million worth of down payments for an estimated 2,300 first-time homebuyers.
The complicated program involves the state paying some or all of the upfront costs for buying a home — the down payment, for instance — in exchange for a share in the home’s value when it is sold, refinanced or transferred. If the home appreciates in value, those gains to the state would then be used to fund the next borrowers — a little for the seller; a little for the next aspiring buyer.
Everybody wins — as long as prices go up. The trouble is that home prices have been declining in the state for months, even as higher mortgage interest rates have made monthly mortgage
payments more expensive.
A potential economic downturn looms as well, as the Federal Reserve weighs raising borrowing costs even further as soon as today.
And California’s tech industry is taking a beating and laying off workers, contributing to a decline in personal incomes. Income taxes are the state’s biggest revenue source.
Given the uncertainty, Gov. Gavin Newsom in January proposed a significantly smaller version of the 10-year, $10 billion program originally envisioned by Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, a Democrat from San Diego. In his January budget, Newsom proposed spending an initial $300 million on the program, a cut from the $500 million compromise signed last year.
Optimism and expectations
The size and scope of the Dream for All program will likely be a subject of negotiations between Newsom and the overwhelmingly Democratic Legislature this year. The governor is expected to offer a revised state spending plan and a new financial forecast in May.
Peter Schurmann
At the start of the COVID pandemic, amid the lockdowns, fear and isolation, San Francisco’s top Catholic leader called on congregants to gather en masse in front of City Hall. The move was a direct challenge to local authorities then working to slow the spread of the deadly virus.
According to author Mary Jo McConahay, that was exactly the point.
Archbishop Salvatore
Cordileone and other ultraconservative Church leaders in the US, writes McConahay in her new book, Playing God: American Catholic Bishops and the Far Right, “took advantage of the opportunity presented by COVID to posit Church authority against that of the state.”
Shunning masks and disparaging vaccines, Church leaders here stood in open defiance of public policy, of the scientists working to save lives, and of the guidance of their own pontiff, Pope Francis, who appealed to Catholics worldwide to get vaccinated as an “act of love.”
McConahay, a veteran journalist who spent years covering conflict and social unrest in Latin America and the Middle East, describes herself
as a “cradle Catholic,” someone who as a young girl attending Immaculate Conception Grammar School in Monrovia, California desperately wanted to serve as an altar boy. “I grew up absorbing everything the Church had to give.”
The author, MaryJo McConahay, whose new book, Playing God, explores the rightward shift among America’s Catholic clergy.
Yet despite her faith – indeed, because of it – she’s taken an unflinching look at what she describes as the rightward lurch among America’s top clergy, a shift fueled by visions of a Christian nationalism long associated with right-wing evangelical movements, and at odds with decades of reform since Vatican II and with the social justice movements of today and yesteryear.
And, says McConahay, that transformation is being funded by the same streams of dark money empowering a newly resurgent far-right in this country.
“Charles Koch supports 40 Catholic Universities. None of the Bishops turned down that money, even though it comes from fossil fuels and other dirty
Devoid of Tenderness — Two Catholic Writers Discuss Time of Reckoning for American Church...continued industries,” says McConahay, pointing to Francis’ critiques of capitalism and the environmental damage it has wrought as an example of the widening breach between American Catholicism and the more “pastoralist” approach advocated by the Pope and his supporters. That divide, she adds, has implications that go beyond the Church and its adherents.
“The more you have leaders like this trying to undermine state authority, the more you are slipping into autocracy,” says McConahay. “This cohort of US Bishops believes what is good for them from a doctrinal point of view is good for the rest of the country. And that’s dangerous. Its anti-democratic and a threat to democracy.”
Six of the nine justices on the US Supreme Court are Catholic, a majority of them adhering to the more conservative views espoused by American Bishops. Meanwhile, among the roughly 60 million Catholics in the US today, a majority – six-in-ten as of 2021 – have expressed a favorable opinion of Pope Francis.
McConahay’s book comes amid an onslaught of sex abuse scandals, the latest emerging just this week out of Baltimore, where priests are accused of abusing more than 600 victims over the course of nearly four decades. The scandals have rocked local diocese, with several here in California having already filed for bankruptcy or considering doing so as they contend with mounting legal fees.
They also land during Holy Week as millions of Catholics prepare to celebrate Easter. For McConahay, the news is yet more proof of the need to rid the Church of the “clericalism” that assumes priests and bishops can do no wrong and that allows for the continued attempt to cover up for the abuse.
“The extent to which clericalism is extinguished in the church, that the church becomes the people of God… we will have more tools at hand to fight this kind of thing.”
McConahay spoke at an event this past week in San Francisco organized by Ethnic Media Services to mark the launch of her book. The gathering was moderated by noted author and essayist Richard Rodriguez. (Both McConahay and Rodriguez spent much of their early careers writing for Pacific News Service, a forerunner of EMS.)
A gay man and a devout Catholic, Rodriguez has long wrestled in his writings and in public speaking engagements with the juxtaposition of those two identities. Yet with the growing conservative tenor of the US Church – even in famously liberal San Francisco, where Rodriguez attends mass – he now sees his own obsolescence in the church as a part of its future.
“We understand what the game is,” says Rodriguez, recalling a Valentine’s Day tradition at his Church where couples are asked to stand for applause. Richard and his partner of nearly four decades do not stand. “It is to celebrate he and she.”
Today’s church, he adds, is “devoid of tenderness.”
And yet for McConahay, it is that ostracization and marginalization that excites and invigorates her faith, a faith she says was deepened over the course of reporting for her book. “I believe in the core teachings of the Church, in the value of human life and the necessity to reach out to the other, no matter who the person is.”
The Church espoused by this current crop of American Bishops, in McConahay’s telling, is a far cry from that founding principle, a division she says “mirrors the extreme divisions we have in this country. And rather than standing for pulling us together, Church leaders have planted themselves on one side of that division.”
Toward the end of their conversation, Rodriguez shares his experience with a conservative priest who years earlier had invited him to lunch out of a genuine interest in dialogue. It was the first time a member of the clergy had invited him to break bread and to listen.
For Rodriguez, McConahay’s book is just such an invitation, an opportunity for those in the pews to engage with the Church hierarchy, to have their voices heard.
“Maybe you should invite Cordileone to lunch,” he suggests.
Maybe I will, McConahay replies.
MaryJo McConahay is the author of several books, including The Tango War: The Struggle for the Hearts, Minds and Riches of Latin America During World War II. Her latest book is Playing God: American Catholic Bishops and the Far Right.
Lawmakers must pass a balanced budget by June 15 in order to get paid.
The proposed cut “will not impact the Administration’s commitment or timeline for implementing the program,” Newsom’s Department of Finance said in January.
In a Feb. 13 email to CalMatters, Christopher Woods, budget director for Atkins, said her office will seek more funding for the program.
“The Governor ‘proposing’ to pull back some funds has
very little to do with what will actually happen,” Woods wrote to CalMatters, in response to earlier coverage of the program. “No one should expect the program to be cut, and we should all fully expect additional funds — perhaps as much as $1 billion — to be allocated in the 2023-24 Budget Act.”
“With interest rates rising, the program is needed more than ever … and there are several innovative ways to fund the program,” Woods wrote.
1025 South Long Beach Boulevard Compton, California 90221 Telephone No.: (310) 639-0775
Lifestyle/Religion News
First United Methodist of Compton (FUMCC) is hosting a special anniversary service at 10:00 am on April 23, 2023 in recognition of 155 years of ministry in Southern California!
The theme for the special anniversary Sunday is "Jesus is Alive . .. Walk With Him" taken from Luke 24: 13-35.
The guest speaker will be Pastor Stephanie Hoxey. Pastor Hoxey currently serves as the Assistant Pastor to Pastors Calvin and Apostle Veronica Moore of the Word of Fire Tabernacle Church. As a young child, Pastor Hoxey was actually raised attending FUMC ! She is the daughter of the late Maxcy and Blondell Filer - both of her parents were very active in the
Compton NAACP and in the forefront of the local civil rights movement. Her dad, Maxcyknown locally as "Mr. Compton" - served on the Compton City Council for 15 years ! Pastor Hoxey shares her parents' commitment to reach back and help others.
FUMC is one of the oldest churches in all of Southern California. The current Pastor, Reverend Dr. Arnetha Inge, is encouraging the community to "come andjoin us for our 155th Birthday party!" There will be light refreshments served after the Worship Service. FUMCC is located at 1025 S. Long Beach Blvd. Compton, CA 90221. For further information, please call the church at (310) 639-0775.
WITNESS FOR JUSTICE #1146
Do not weep or pray for them, and don’t beg Me to help them, for I will not listen to you. I tell you, even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, my heart would not go out to these people. Send them away from My presence! Let them go! They wouldn’t listen, and now it’s too late! Mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, upon beast, upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn and shall not be quenched for this is a nation [America] that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction. Therefore, I will appoint over them four forms of destruction,” “the sword to slay, the dogs to drag, the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. I will hand them over to trouble, to all kingdoms of the
earth. I will stretch out My hand against them and destroy them; I am weary of relenting! Do not pray for these people. Their fate of judgment and exile is already certain, [Jeremiah 7:16, 20, 28; 11:14; 15:1-3].
Listen, in all your getting get an understanding. If you don’t get yourself together, you will find yourself caught up in the wrath of God. Understand, whatever God says, He does, and His word stands for eternities. Waste no more time. God’s wrath is coming, and it’s coming soon. For His wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. [Romans 1:18]. Take advantage of the opportunities God’s grace provides. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! [Romans 6:1-2].
If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
I want to buy a big bouquet of flowers for every person who has scheduled a hard-toschedule meeting. And name a boulevard for each person who keeps track of the action items and next steps on a big project. I want to celebrate the note takers. The Excel sheet makers. The calculate how many slices of pizza we need figure-out-ers. I want to talk about the people who make up the infrastructure of the good work of justice and who often are the architects of the work but rarely the recipients of accolades. I bet right now you can think of those folks in your congregation. The work of making sure that the signs are printed, that someone has proofread the church bulletin or double-checked the protest route and gotten permits. This work can often be tedious and goes under the radar, but it is essential to what we do as people of faith working and yearning for a just world.
I also don’t want to get lost the idea that in advocacy spaces we’re being thoughtful and careful about not putting people into boxes. We’re deep in our patriarchal, white supremacist society, which means we must be mindful of who is doing the caretaking and administrative tasks. I work in coalitions a lot, which means everyone is doing all the jobs. But that also means that people who present as female are often taking notes, scheduling meetings, and keeping the coalitions moving on. This shows up time and again. As people of faith, we are offered such a gift in imagining a just world restored, and our commitment to justice and compassion should be reflected internally and externally. How does this show up in your organizations or congregations? Are we doing a good enough job not only celebrating that behind the scenes work but being equitable about its distribution and burden.
As the policy advocate for
domestic policy issues in the Washington Office, I get to see both sides of this story, the massive work that goes into planning advocacy and the inspirational and life-giving work that plays out for all to see. Each person’s role in advocacy is critical and valued—but I don’t often see that articulated out loud. When people come to ask how they can engage in advocacy, I want to make sure we’re talking about the many and varied ways they can make a difference in the advocacy space. Whether it be using a bullhorn, compiling an Excel tracking sheet, writing a poem, calling and writing legislators, or birddogging them on congressional recess, your voice is important, and I don’t want that to get lost. Whatever skill you have is needed and important and deeply valued. Are you especially skilled at making cold calls? A walking thesaurus? Is one of your spiritual gifts coming up with fun yet not too corny icebreakers? Are there some drag queens in your congregation who can be a part of your Easter cantata? The list, and the need, goes on…
When we all work in concert with each other, it’s astonishing what can be done—just look around. But we all know the work of advocacy is long and we need to shore one another up in the journey. As we celebrate Easter and the renewal of hope it brings, let’s borrow some of that holy imagining to make our holy spaces and faithful places ones of celebration for profound prayers and also really well-made coffee. Let’s join together to make sure that we’re not sticking to the same way things have always been done by putting people in societally restrictive boxes. Because at the end of the day, imagining a just world for all starts with imagining that world for ourselves.
Katie Adams is the Policy Advocate for Domestic Issues for the United Church of Christ.
The health benefits of drinking black coffee to your brain don’t just stop with degenerative diseases. Studies show that people who drink one cup of coffee per day can see about an 8% reduction in their risk for a depressive episode.
A lot of people start their days with a cup of coffee but in many cases, they’ve added sweeteners and other accompaniments. However, there may be more benefits to skipping all of that and drinking your coffee as black as you can handle it.
Is Black Coffee Good For You?
Generally, the answer to this question is yes. Black coffee can be good for you because it’s a great source of nutrients and healthy natural compounds.
According to a nutritive analysis, an 8-ounce cup of black coffee contains approximately 3% of the daily value of thiamin, niacin, and potassium. It also has 14% DV of riboflavin. Black coffee is also a significant source of caffeine and polyphenols, which have well-known health benefits.
Does Black Coffee Have Calories?
Yes. As with all types of food, black coffee has calories.
How Many Calories Are In Black Coffee?
Typically, an 8-ounce cup of black coffee only has 2 calories. This may vary slightly depending on how it’s prepared but not significantly.
5 Health Benefits Of Black
Coffee
1. It May Reduce The Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes
Studies show that there may be a direct relationship between how much black coffee you drink and a reduced risk of developing
type 2 diabetes.
According to researchers, drinking up to 6 cups of coffee per day can result in a significant reduction. While some researchers estimate that the benefits are because of caffeine and the polyphenol, chlorogenic acid, others proved differently. The participants in a study with decaffeinated black coffee showed similar results to those who had caffeinated coffee.
2. It Can Protect Your Brain
There have been multiple studies regarding the effect of black coffee on neurodegenerative disorders and the results have been somewhat mixed.
However, it’s possible that drinking coffee regularly can reduce your risk of developing illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. You may also be less likely to experience cognitive decline.
3. It May Protect Your Liver
According to several studies, drinking coffee can help you to maintain a healthy liver. As with diabetes, this protection is directly linked to how much you drink.
Those who drank one cup per day saw a 15% reduction in their risk of developing illnesses such as liver cancer and cirrhosis. If you go up to 4 cups of coffee, however, you may see as much as a 71% reduction in the same risk.
4. It Can Lower Your Risk Of Depression
SBCUSD News
engaging families and the community. The superintendent oversees the District's budget, staffing, and facilities, ensuring that resources are allocated effectively and efficiently to support teaching and learning.
That risk may also be influenced by how much coffee you drink. At first, researchers attributed this benefit to caffeine but other studies that included decaffeinated coffee suggest that it may be linked to another component in the drink.
5. It May Prevent Cancer
Several studies have shown a possible link between drinking coffee and a reduced risk of developing certain cancers. Researchers suggest that this health benefit is related to the antioxidants that are naturally found in coffee. If you drink at least one cup of black coffee per day you may reduce your risk of developing endometrial, breast, liver, and colorectal cancers.
Does Black Coffee Help You Lose Weight?
Though more research is
needed, there are a few studies that show drinking black coffee can help you to lose weight. There is some evidence that coffee positively affects the storage of fat while supporting good gut health. It’s been shown that drinking black coffee can result in decreased body fat overall.
Additionally, one study showed that people who drank at least 2 cups of coffee per day were 17% more likely to have increased energy during physical activity, which is important for weight management. Researchers were also able to establish a link between drinking black coffee 30-60 minutes before a meal and eating less.
Final Words On Black Coffee
Researchers are still working on proving all the possible health benefits of black coffee but there is enough information available for you to consider having a cup or two per day. Of course, if you have any concerns about adding caffeine to your diet, it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor first.
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from page 6
“We do know that there’s a lot of excitement out there,” Martin told CalMatters in a recent interview.
Some details have been revealed in CalHFA board meetings, public hearings and a report to the state Legislature. Here are some of the program’s key components.
The loans will not be available for all Californians. Only those who earn 150% or less of the median income of others in their county qualify. Those income limits vary by county, with $300,000 being the cut-off in pricey Santa Clara and San Francisco counties, but $159,000 for many inland counties such as Fresno and Merced.
The loans will cover as much as 20% of a home purchase. Whenever a home is sold, transferred or refinanced, a borrower will owe the state the original amount the state invested, plus a percentage of the home’s increase in value. If the original loan was 20 percent of a home’s value, the seller would owe the state the original loan plus 20 percent of its increased value, though that amount would be capped at 250% of the original loan amount.
pooling the shared equity loans into securities and selling them to investors, to help provide additional money for other borrowers.
Many Wall Street financial institutions bundled often poorquality mortgage loans into securities during real estate’s boom years and sold them to major investors. But during the years of downturn, getting help to homeowners was complicated by the difficulties identifying who exactly owned these loans.
“If they are sold into private, securitized trusts there is a lack of transparency about who owns your debt, and a lack of information about options if there are problems,” Sitkins said. “I really want to be sure that there are guardrails and protections for the borrowers.”
Consumers are cautious
As CalHFA officials were designing the program last year, they held several listening sessions online, taking comments from the public. Jake Lawrence, a 41-year-old cannabis entrepreneur in Willits who also runs a nonprofit, said he liked what he heard.
The San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD) is proud to announce the return of one of its own, Mauricio Arellano, as the new superintendent of California’s seventh-largest school district. Arellano, a native of San Bernardino, attended District schools and returns on April 17 to lead SBCUSD as superintendent.
“We are thrilled to have Mauricio back in San Bernardino,” said Board of Education President Dr. Scott Wyatt. “His experience and expertise will be invaluable as we work to ensure that every student in San Bernardino and Highland has access to a quality education.”
Arellano’s career in education spans more than three decades, and he has held a variety of leadership roles in Southern California school districts. Most recently, he served as superintendent of neighboring Redlands Unified, where he oversaw significant improvements in academic achievement.
As superintendent, Arellano is responsible for setting a clear and compelling vision for SBCUSD, including goals and strategies for improving student achievement, creating safer schools, and
“I am honored to return to San Bernardino, the place where I grew up and went to school,” Superintendent Arellano said. “I am excited to work with our dedicated educators, staff, and community partners to provide our students with the best possible education and abundant opportunities for success.”
A reception to welcome Arellano and his family back to the community will be held on Tuesday, April 18 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the Dr. Margaret Hill Community Room, located at 777 North F Street in San Bernardino.
Arellano was selected by the SBCUSD Board of Education in February 2023 in a unanimous vote following a comprehensive community engagement process and national search.
He graduated from San Bernardino High School and started his career in education as a bilingual elementary school teacher in the District more than 30 years ago. Arellano is the son of immigrant parents from Mexico who also worked in SBCUSD schools. He was a firstgeneration college student when he pursued his undergraduate degrees in sociology and Spanish at the University of California, Riverside. He later earned a master’s degree in educational administration from California State University, San Bernardino.
Woods declined to answer follow-up questions for this story.
Atkins, who championed the equity sharing program last year, has said the Dream for All program is a priority. She said in a recent statement she isn’t giving up on getting more money for it.
“Our state is about to launch a program that will help change people’s lives for the better, and make the dream of homeownership a reality,” she said. “While existing funding for the California Dream for All is a great first step, we are working to allocate additional funding in the upcoming state budget — with the ultimate goal of providing $1 billion per year — to help even more families set the foundation for building generational wealth.”
The uncertainty in the economy and housing market has been a subject of discussion at CalHFA for months, as officials and political appointees seek to launch a program meant to take advantage of rising home prices at the very moment home equity is falling.
State officials said buyers positioned to hold onto a property for the long-term are those best suited for the program when home prices are falling.
In a presentation to its board of directors in January, CalHFA officials also said the agency is planning for a program with a potentially “very short life cycle.”
“Having lived the dream of buying a house in Los Angeles in 1989, when the market peaked, and then selling it at a loss almost a decade later, I can appreciate that the market doesn’t always go up,” Jim Cervantes, CalHFA’s chair, said during that Jan. 19 meeting.
“Disclosures, whatever we can do to mitigate — or rather, have prospective buyers understand what they’re getting into — would be extremely valuable, because no one’s a good market timer.”
California home prices, already rising for years, saw big gains during the pandemic, as mortgage interest rates hit historic lows and families sought more space for their remote
work set-ups to practice social distancing.
The median price of a previously-owned, single-family home in California, as tracked by the California Association of Realtors, increased 47% from March 2020 to May 2022, when it peaked at $900,170.
That same month the Federal Reserve, in order to tackle inflation, began its most aggressive interest rate hikes in years driving up mortgage costs for consumers.
Since May 2022, the state’s median home price has fallen 16.5% to hit $751,330 in January.
Market change
Despite the decline in home prices, monthly mortgage costs continue to make the state’s housing market more unaffordable than at nearly any point in the last 15 years, particularly for lower- and middle-class families. Only 17% of families in California could afford a median-priced single family home at the end of last year, according to the Realtors group.
Given the rapid market changes, Tiena Johnson Hall, CalHFA’s executive director, called the governor’s reductions in Dream for All funding prudent at CalHFA’s January meeting. “There’s still a lot of room for (home) values to continue to decrease, and that is what we expect to see,” she said.
In February, the state’s nonpartisan legislative analyst projected a revised $25 billion deficit in next year’s state budget. Since then, job growth nationally and in California has remained strong, except for layoffs in the tech sector.
The full details of the Dream for All program — for instance, which lenders will offer the shared equity loans to borrowers — are not yet available from CalHFA.
And loans will not be immediately available to consumers when the program launches this month. Lenders will need a month to six weeks to roll out the loans and begin marketing them to consumers, said Ellen Martin, a CalHFA official tasked with designing the program.
A social equity feature of the program will be included for those who earn as much as 80% of the area median income. They will get to keep more of their equity when they sell, refinance or transfer their properties than others with higher incomes. Also about 10% of the initial state funds, or $30 million, will be reserved for those lower-income borrowers.
The loans can be used to fund down payments and closing costs, including interest rate buydowns.
Given the complexity of the program, borrowers will be required to complete a homebuyer education course.
Advocates’ concerns
The complexity of the program has some consumer advocates worried.
Lisa Sitkin, a senior staff attorney with the National Housing Law Project, said it would be wise for the agency to ensure borrowers receive periodic notices about the loan’s atypical details.
“As time goes by, people tend to forget and treat it as a normal loan, and I think it is useful for people planning to be reminded,” said Sitkin, a member of a working group advising CalHFA on the program.
A proposal to sell the loans as mortgage-backed securities also has her worried. California officials are exploring the idea of
“I’m very interested. The problem we face is that there’s such a flux in what’s going on,” Lawrence said. “We’re in the middle of a housing market bust, so we’re gonna watch prices tumble for a minute.”
What’s more, one of the county’s biggest industries, the marijuana trade, has been hit hard by declines in cannabis prices. “It’s beyond suffering,” Lawrence said. Lawrence also wondered how the state will calculate equity if he makes improvements to a home.
Despite his questions, he is considering the idea.
“It doesn’t hurt my feelings to share equity with someone who invests in me,” he said of the state. “And anybody that understands any kind of financial literacy should understand an investor should be able to have their expected ROI (return on investment). For me, I have zero issue with the idea.”
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The post State May Scale Down Its New Home Loan Program Designed to Assist First-Time Homebuyers first appeared on Post News Group. This article originally appeared in Post News Group.
The costs of these mistaken and misrepresented policies are real. Economists from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania determined that within eight months of Texas passing a law that prevented local governments from using five of the largest bond underwriters taxpayers would pay $300-$500 million more on $31.8 billion those governments wanted to borrow. That amounts to about a 1 percent tax on that debt. Not to mention the banks cut out of the Texas market have Texas employees whose companies can no longer compete in their state. Fortunately, some public officials are insisting that they be allowed to shape portfolios in ways that are fiscally sound precisely because they consider environmental impacts. I was in New York City last week for an announcement by city Comptroller Brad Lander and the trustees of the New York City
Employees’ Retirement System and the Teachers Retirement System of their plan to reach net zero pollution from emissions in their investment portfolios by 2040.
“If the cynical war of political distraction waged by red-state politicians at the behest of their fossil-fuel donors deters us,” Lander predicted, “we will sacrifice our opportunity to maximize long-term investment returns along with millions of lives and trillions of dollars of global investment.”
Opponents of this responsible approach to investing derisively label it “woke” because they know that term creates confusion and for some fear. So it’s a perfect wedge to divide us. If anything, they need to wake up to the idea that Americans want to pass on a safer, healthier planet powered by abundant energy to our children and our grandchildren. We want to put our money where our aspirations are.
an annual estimate of the loss to Black, non-Hispanic Californians from health disparities.”
The experts use the Black nonHispanic Californian category because they didn’t have a U.S. Census count available for Black Californians who can trace their ancestors back to slavery in the United States.
Economists advising The California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans have developed economic formulas that project the reparations owed to Black Californians who are descendants of people enslaved in the United States are likely to exceed $800 billion.
Three of five harms were used in the calculations conducted by a five-member panel of economic experts: health, disproportionate housing discrimination, Black mass incarceration and overpolicing are “from a long list of harms” the state “is a least partially responsible for,” said Dr. Thomas Craemer, a professor of public policy at the University of Connecticut and one of the experts involved in the assessment.
Craemer spoke last week at the task force’s 14th meeting held in Sacramento on March 29 and 30. The figures also applies to forebears who survived legal segregation, Jim Crow discrimination and other social and economic injustices.
“These are harms for which we thought that we’d have data, that’s one criterion,” said Craemer. “The other is that they
are closely related to the actions of the state of California to make our estimates more defensible in the face of challenges that will undoubtedly arrive once the proposal is made public.”
The economic experts’ analysis and final recommendations for the Task Force regarding calculations of reparations and forms of compensation and restitution were presented by Craemer and Dr. William Spriggs. Spriggs appeared remotely in front of the task force. He is the former chair of the Department of Economics at Howard University. He now serves as chief economist to the AFL-CIO.
The health harm calculations were determined by the annual loss to “Black, non-Hispanic Californians” from health disparities by computing the 7.6 year-life expectancy gap based on the Value of Statistical Life in the United States.
“That is what statisticians use to evaluate how much each individual places value on their life,” Craemer said. “We then divide the value associated with the gap by the average Black, non-Hispanic Californian expectancy of 71 years to obtain
Black mass incarceration and over-policing calculations were derived from how many Black, non-Hispanic Californians were arrested for drug felonies above the population percentage during the “War on Drugs” from 1970 to 2020.
It was multiplied by the average prison term for drug offenses and by the average annual California State employee wages to arrive at the estimated total owed to Black Californians who qualify for reparation payments.
Housing discrimination was determined by calculating the average of the Black nonHispanic Californian wage gap for 1930, 1980, 2019. The amount gave the experts the wealth disparity from all forms of housing discrimination, Craemer said.
“I should mention that what we are estimating is not reparations. What we are estimating are losses to the African American descendants of slaves in the United States,” Craemer said. “Our calculations could be used to come up with determinations of reparations but it’s not necessarily identical. The task force can go above and beyond because how some losses are framed (is) difficult to estimate. (Such as) pain and suffering.”
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“On that morning 73 workers died, and 250 workers lost their jobs,” she said.
Since 9-11 Jayaraman has been fighting to raise wages and improve working conditions in the restaurant industry. She says a majority of restaurant workers in the U.S. are immigrants. Seventy percent are women of color.
“We grew into a national organization with 300,000 workers in all 50 states and our fight expanded beyond restaurant workers to include all service workers.”
That includes anybody who is tipped like nail salon employees, car washers, hair stylists, or people who push wheelchairs in airports.
“All of those folks are tipped workers receiving a subminimum wage,” she said.
Many gig workers are impacted by these issues as well. She said gig companies like DoorDash and Instacart cut wages by the amount customers tip—in effect, stealing workers tips.
“We are seeing a really historic moment of worker revolt, in which low-wage workers across the economy, and particularly in the restaurant industry, are for the first time refusing to work for these poverty wages,” Jayaraman said.
She says the restaurant industry has been one of the largest and fastest growing private sector employers in California and the United States for decades.
Reparations: Experts Compute Hundreds of Billions Owed to Black Californians...continued
The last two atrocities – unjust property taken by eminent domain and devaluation of Black businesses — are not readily available in the calculation model because of lack of data, Craemer said. The 1980 amount minus the 1930 amount provides an estimate of the effect of redlining only.
Task Force chairperson and Los Angeles attorney Kamilah V. Moore said some published news headlines have put out misinformed information about the experts’ final calculations.
“The task force has yet to determine a final amount,” Moore said.
The numbers are not concrete, leaving room for the members of the task force to evaluate, modify, or eliminate any of the experts’ findings. Spriggs said the experts are still in “deliberations.”
“I think it’s improper to prejudge what precise number we may recommend, but we’re only giving you expert advice on these specific harms. The task force has full latitude to ignore it, to add it, or take into consideration addressing tangible harms,” Spriggs added.
The post Reparations: Experts Compute Hundreds of Billions Owed to Black Californians first appeared on Post News Group.
“But it’s been the absolute, lowest paying employer for generations dating back to emancipation when the sub minimum wage for tipped workers was created,” she said. Recently, ballot measures and bills to raise the minimum wage to $15/hr. have moved through legislatures in 15 states. “Even red states like Arizona, Idaho and Ohio are having this on the ballot next year.”
Tackling homelessness in LA
Chris Contreras is working miracles in the incredibly shrinking world of affordable housing in one of the nation’s largest epicenters of homelessness. He is the development director of Brilliant Corners, a housing services nonprofit based in Los Angeles.
“California accounts for about one third of the entire U.S. homeless population. At last count, over 170,000 Californians are unhoused with at least 60,000 living in Los Angeles County on any given night,” Contreras said.
“We operate the Los Angeles Flexible Housing Subsidy Pool, or Flex for short, which is a nationally recognized supportive housing model that helps thousands of people exit homelessness each year,” Contreras said. The program launched in 2014 as a publicprivate partnership with rental subsidies and case management
services.
The L.A. housing crisis disproportionately affects communities of color. Black Angelinos make up 8% of L.A.’s population but account for more than 30% of its homeless individuals, Contreras says.
“We also have seen a 26% rise in Latino homelessness, meaning that Latinos now make up 44% of L.A. County homeless.”
The solution to chronic homelessness lies in coordinating resources from a number of stakeholders: owners, builders, the criminal justice system, and healthcare systems, as well as rental subsidies, either from federal or local funding, Contreras said. With that support, his program taps dedicated professionals who build relationships with landlords and developers to secure existing and new units, as well as dedicated housing services and case management services to support an individual’s transition to long term stability in their new home.
Brilliant Corners creates a pool of housing units that can be matched quickly to any client experiencing homelessness. It saves landlords the trouble of advertising a vacancy by paying them two months’ rent in advance. To date, the Flex has sponsored relationships with more than 1,100 of these socalled scattered-site landlords.
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Meeting has been rescheduled to Monday, April 17
Join us to find out what is happening in the 6th Ward and City!
Find out about:
¨ 6th Ward Councilmember, Kimberly Calvin ¨ City Development Director regarding city projects
¨ San Bernardino Police Dept & Code Enforcement
Community members it's YOUR time to share YOUR thoughts on where YOU live. We want to hear from YOU and hear your solutions
Please join us on Monday, April 17 at 6 pm and let's TALK.
When: Monday, April 17, 2023
Time: 6:00pm
Where: 1505 Highland Avenue, San Bernardino Contact: 909.913.0831
