13 Year-Old Among Group Of Kids Graduating High School With Over 50 College Credits Earned Each

of the group Keniah and Keyanna began taking college courses at just 12 years old.

The scholars anticipate obtaining their Associate’s Degree within the next year from Saint Leo University. They will then transfer to another four-year university as juniors to complete their Bachelor’s degree. They are applying to Florida A&M University, Howard University, and Clark Atlanta University to name a few.

Growing Number of California Groups Express Support for Black Reparations...continued from page 1

Military installations at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec.7, 1941.

graduated

San Bernardino City Unified Offers

Seamless Summer Meals For Children

Icon Preparatory School is a private school in the cities of Tampa and Jacksonville, FL that educates over 800 students. Icon Prep is open to any student in the state of Florida and committed to closing the achievement gap among its scholars and more affluent peers. With a belief that a student’s zip code does not determine their destination, Icon Preparatory School empowers its students to reach their maximum potential, preparing them for life in college and beyond.

Five of Icon Prep’s six founders are alumni of Florida A&M University, a historically black college that prides itself on excellence with caring among its students. The leaders of Icon Prep aim to use the knowledge obtained from their HBCU experience to significantly impact their student population that is 99% African American and Hispanic.

Learn more about Icon Prep at IconPrep.org

Also, be sure to follow the school on Facebook and Instagram

Padilla, Sanders Introduce Bill to Make College Tuitionand Debt-Free for Working Families...continued

(HSIs), Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) can attend tuition- and fee-free.

In the months following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, approximately 122,000 men, women, and children of Japanese descent were forcibly relocated to “assembly centers.” Nearly 70,000 of these evacuees were American citizens. They were then evacuated to and confined in 75 isolated, fenced, and guarded “relocation centers,” known as "incarceration camps.”

According to the National Park Service (NPS), 92,785 and other Nisei (secondgenerations Japanese Americans) and Sansei (third generation) are urging the state to compensate Black descendants of chattel slavery and provide a formal apology for harms suffered in California.

Californians of Japanese descent were put in temporary detention camps called “Assembly Centers.” The cities of Sacramento, Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Francisco, metropolitans with the largest Japanese contingents, were incarcerated without legal recourse.

“First, I want to acknowledge the difference in our fight for reparations for the injustice of the (incarceration) camps and the 400 years history of enslaved people,” Iwataki testified. “We’re not here to make recommendations or to prescribe lessons learned. I am here to share the experiences of NCRR and all volunteer grassroot organizations that fought for reparations and to express our continued solidarity for Black reparations.”

The San Bernardino City Unified School District is ensuring that children ages 0–18 have access to nutritious meals throughout the summer break. With the implementation of a seamless summer meals program, the District aims to address summer nutrition insecurity.

SBCUSD's summer meals program provides free breakfast and lunch at three locations in San Bernardino. The program is open to all children, regardless of their enrollment or socioeconomic status, and no application is needed. Meals must be eaten on-

Summer Meal Locations Location, Contact and Telephone

Wiiwish Native Steam Enterprise Building Malia Vincent-Finney (951) 468-6678

Sharon Morgan (909) 7711174

Inland Behavioral and Health Services-WIC

Inland Family Community Health Center

Jo-Ann Gallagher (909) 708-8158 site and adults cannot eat with children.

Address 320 North E St. #106 San Bernardino, CA 92401 665 North D St.

The program supports children's health, well-being, and development during the summer months, and it also eases the financial burden on families and ensures that no child goes hungry, said Director of Nutrition Services Adriane Robles.

“San Bernardino City Unified's summer meals program demonstrates our commitment to the overall welfare of students by providing nutritious meals to children during the summer break,” Robles said.

San Bernardino, CA 92401

Serving Meals/ Times

Breakfast: 8–8:30 a.m.

Lunch: 11:45–12:15 p.m.

Lunch: 11:30–12:30 p.m.

Dates and Days No service

June 19 or July 4

Mon–Fri

June 20–July 28 Mon–Fri July 3–July 28

Padilla, Sanders Introduce Bill to Make College Tuition- and Debt-Free for Working Families

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), co-Chair of the Senate Hispanic-Serving Institutions Caucus, joined Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in reintroducing the College for All Act, legislation that would expand access to college for millions of working-class children. This legislation represents the most significant federal investment in higher education in the modern history of the United States. As the nation seeks to reconcile the burden of student loan debt, the College for All Act would alleviate undue financial stress for working families and open economic opportunities.

As tuition costs have increased by 295.2% since 1963, a college degree has become an unattainable dream for too many Americans. Moreover, students who take on the cost of attendance are too often encumbered by a lifetime of student loan debt. This bill would allow working-class students to attend – tuition-free – public community colleges, public trade schools, and public fouryear colleges and universities. It would also ensure that the vast majority of students enrolled at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions

“As a first-generation college graduate who came from a lowincome household, I understand the challenges of accessing and affording higher education,” said Senator Padilla. “The College for All Act would help millions of working families shoulder the financial burden of paying for their children’s college. It is in our nation’s best interest to invest in all students to ensure that the American dream and economic prosperity are attainable to all, regardless of income.”

“Today, this country tells young people to get the best education they can, and then saddles them for decades with crushing student loan debt. To my mind, that does not make any sense whatsoever,” said Senator Sanders. “In the wealthiest country in the history of the world, a higher education should be a right for all, not a privilege for the few. It is absolutely unacceptable that hundreds of thousands of bright young Americans do not get a higher education each year, not because they are unqualified, but because their family does not have enough money. In the 21st century, a free public education system that goes from kindergarten through high school is no longer good enough. The time is long overdue to make public colleges and universities tuition-free and debt-free for working families. Education is one of the keys to a successful democracy and we must make it easier, not harder, for young people to obtain the degrees they have worked so hard for.”

This legislation would guarantee tuition-free community

Five Facts Los Angeles City Renters Should Know

Evictions Can Lead to Increased Housing Insecurity

LOS ANGELES, Calif.— The City of Los Angeles remains committed to providing tenant protections to help decrease the chances of residents being evicted from their homes, adding to housing insecurity and the City’s unhoused crisis. Tenants continue to have City protections for unpaid COVID-19 rental debt through extended eviction protections until August 1, 2023, specifically addressing rental debt incurred between March 2020 and January 31, 2023.

It is also important for tenants to know they are at risk of unfavorable consequences if they fail to respond to an unlawful detainer, including eviction and the impact of an eviction record on their credit report. Responding promptly to an unlawful detainer, also known as an eviction notice, is crucial to safeguard tenant rights. Failure to file an answer with the court could lead to a “default judgment” against the tenant, essentially meaning that the case has been lost and the tenant can be locked out of their home.

Ann Sewill, General Manager of the City of Los Angeles Housing Department stated, “The LA Housing Department joins the Mayor in her commitment to keeping Angelenos informed and housed. There are many protections that exist for tenants such as additional time to pay COVID related rental arrears and protection from eviction due to additional tenants or pets until February 1, 2024. Rent increases for units covered by the Rent Stabilization Ordinance are also

Japanese Americans were imprisoned based on ancestry alone. There was no evidence that they had committed any crimes against the U.S. or presented any danger, NPS explained in its “A History of Japanese Americans in California: Incarceration of Japanese Americans During World War II.”

Three Japanese Americans who were involved in and knowledgeable about the Japanese American Redress Movement (JARM) testified at the California reparations task force’s public meeting held in Los Angeles on Sept. 24, 2022. They educated attendees about efforts Japanese Americans made to obtain restitution for their forced removal and confinement during World War II.

Mitchell Maki (President and CEO of the Go for Broke National Education Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the legacy and lessons of the Nisei World War II veterans) and Ron Wakabayashi (former Executive Director, Japanese American Citizens League) provided historical context on how Japanese Americans achieved a rare accomplishment in U.S. history by passing the Civil Liberties

In September 2022, the San Francisco Black and Jewish Unity Coalition held reparations teach-ins at Congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco. Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who authored the legislation, Assembly Bill 3121, that created the task force when she was an Assemblymember, was one of the speakers.

Congregation B’nai Israel hosted a 90-minute reparations information session in Sacramento on June 11. Presented by Sacramento Jewish opera singer Lynn Berkeley-Baskin, over 20 people – Jewish and Japanese — attended the event to hear Chris Lodgson from the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California share his experiences as one of the grassroots leaders driving California’s movement for reparations.

Germany has openly acknowledged past aggressions committed during the Holocaust. According to a June 202 report by Steven J. Ross in the Jewish publication the Forward, the German government has paid out $92 billion to Holocaust survivors over seven decades. In the United States, the country has “failed to reckon with the consequences of centuries of slavery,” Ross writes.

“As laws advancing revisionist history sweep our nation’s state legislatures, Americans who limited until February 1, 2024.” She continued, “It is important for L.A. City residents to inform themselves of the systems and guidelines in place to help them stay in their homes and avoid evictions. It is about being informed, being protected, and being at home,” she explained.

The City’s goal is to inform tenants of their residential rental rights and provide information to help them stay in their homes and avoid evictions. Here are five facts residents should always remember when it involves renter protections:

1. Tenants cannot be evicted without a reason or just cause.

2. Take immediate action if you receive an eviction notice or unlawful detainer from a landlord for unpaid rent.

3. Tenants have five days to respond to an unlawful detainer.

4. No-fault evictions have resumed as of February 1, 2023.

5. Rent increases for units covered by the Rent Stabilization Ordinance are limited until February 1, 2024.

Through the extension of eviction protections, encouragement of prompt response to unlawful detainers, and regulations on rent increases, the City aims to ensure housing stability for all residents.

To learn more about your rights, call (866) 557-RENT (7368) or visit http://www. housing.lacity.org.

Act of 1988.

They received an official apology letter from the President of the United States and 82,000 surviving Japanese Americans were compensated with $20,000 payments, which totaled to $1.6 billion. Executive Order 9066 was officially rescinded by U.S. President Gerald Ford on Feb. 16, 1976.

Miya Iwataki – a special assistant to former California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) member and U.S. Congressmember Mervyn Dymally who represented the state’s 31st District in Congress during the 1980s – was a member of the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations for Japanese Americans.

Iwataki says she drew inspiration from the activism of Black leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Black Panther Party member Fred Hampton, the Tuskegee Airmen, the Brown Berets, among others. She explained that it was Black leaders such as Dymally and former Oakland mayor and U.S. Congress member Ron Dellums who supported the passage of the Civil Liberties Act.

Maki, Iwataki, Wakabayashi favor a national reckoning with our own complicated past would do well to take a lesson from Germany," writes Steven J. Ross, a history professor at the University of Southern California (USC).

“If we want to truly heal as a nation, we must first acknowledge both the long history of slavery and the pain its legacy still causes – and take tangible steps to right our collective wrongs,” Ross stated.

The task force will hold its final meeting and submit its final report to the California legislature on June 29.

The meeting will start at 9:00 a.m., in the First Floor Auditorium of the March Fong Eu Secretary of State Building, located at 1500 11th Street, downtown Sacramento.

“If there are helpful takeaways from our experience, I hope that they will contribute,” Wakabayashi said of Japanese Americans’ fight for reparations. “It would help repay a great debt. The Black civil rights movement generated the Japanese American Redress Campaign and led the struggle for human rights in this country.”

Grassroots Groups Push “Motor Voter” Bill Aimed at 100% Registration of California’s Electorate

Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media

LA County Reaches Settlement with ACLU to Improve Conditions in Jails...continued

Added a new 24/7 compliance sergeant in the IRC; Expanded the number of cleaning crews and sanitation checks in the IRC; Increased the number of Correctional Health Services staff designated to provide mental health services in the IRC, including embedding additional psychiatric staff stationed in the IRC;

Hired 182 Correctional Health Services (CHS) employees for positions throughout the jails as of June 15, 2023;

Assigned 215 recentlygraduated deputies to fill existing vacancies in custody operations; Announced assignment bonuses of up to 20% for more than 1,900 Correctional Health Services employees working in the jails to help retain and recruit staff in key clinical, case management, technical and administrative positions; and Implemented a new Shared Intake Management (or “SIM”) System that uses wristband scanner technology and integration of Sheriff’s Department systems to track, monitor and implement the timely movement of people through the intake process to reduce wait times; and Retrained staff on legal requirements for IRC conditions and wait times.

CAIR-LA Condemns Antisemitic Flyer Distributed to Home in Los Angeles County

have been transferred to state hospitals for treatment, with the population pending state hospital transfer reduced from 422 to 356.

The County has authorized the Department of Health Services (DHS) to enter into a contract with the California Department of State Hospitals for approximately $629 million in State funding to increase the number of ODR beds for those accused of felonies found incompetent to stand trial (FIST) from 794 to 1,344 over five years.

On April 4, the Board of Supervisors (BOS) authorized 500 new community mental health beds through ODR and the Department of Mental Health for individuals in custody and suffering from severe mental health disorders (P3/P4s) who cannot safely be released. The County is finalizing funding for the first year of this ramp up.

The preliminary injunction order in the Urquidi bail reform case temporarily reinstates the Emergency Bail Schedule and may further reduce the pretrial population in the jails.

The County has established a DOJ Compliance Office to drive compliance with the remaining provisions of U.S. Department of Justice settlement agreement to improve conditions in the County’s jail system for those with mental health conditions.

(LOS ANGELES, CA –

6/19/2023) – The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today condemned the distribution of antisemitic flyers in Redondo Beach, Calif., early this morning.

A resident of the Southern California neighborhood was taking out his trash when he found the plastic bag containing the leaflets with antisemitic messages in his yard. The incident is similar to those occurring in neighborhoods throughout the state of California and the nation, although it is not clear if these incidents are linked.

SEE: Antisemitic flyer tossed onto lawn in Redondo Beach

In a statement, CAIR-LA

Executive Director Hussam Ayloush said:

“We are disturbed by the ongoing acts of bigotry against our Jewish neighbors. There is no place in our state for the targeted hate and antisemitism that continues to be spread and we strongly condemn these senseless acts.

“The Jewish community deserves the right to feel safe in their homes, neighborhoods, and places of worship. We need to work to address antisemitism in our communities to bring respect and tolerance for all and seek justice for our Jewish neighbors.”

SEE:

CAIR-LA Condemns Distribution of Antisemitic Flyers in Culver City and the Beachwood Canyon Area CAIR-LA Condemns

Antisemitic Flyers Distributed at Homes in San Marino and Pasadena on Yom Kippur CAIR-LA Condemns

Antisemitic Flyers Distributed in San Bernardino Neighborhood CAIR, CAIR-PA Welcome Conviction of Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue Shooter

To report any bias incidents, contact CAIR-LA’s Civil Rights Department at (714) 776-1177 or click here to file a report.

CAIR-LA is Southern California’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice and empower American Muslims.

Last week, hundreds of community leaders, advocates, and organizers representing labor, faith-based, Black, AAPI, Latinos, women and youth rally and march were held at the State Capitol. They were supporting Senate Bill (SB) 846, which aims to increase election turnout and remove barriers to voter registration for millions of Californians.

The California Grassroots Democracy Coalition, which is the largest voting rights coalition in California, has launched a campaign to enfranchise 4.7 million unregistered voters through SB 846. This bill, also known as the Motor Voter bill, was authored by state Senators Caroline Menjivar (D-Chino) and Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara).

The coalition, which represents millions of Californians, has embarked on a multi-year campaign to expand the electorate to better reflect the state’s diversity.

SB 846 is co-sponsored by three members of the California Black Legislative Caucus (CLBC) -- Assemblymembers Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood), Chris

Holden (D-Pasadena), and Mike Gipson (D-Carson).

“For decades, grassroots organizations like ours have worked year-round, mobilizing voters, organizing immigrant communities, providing legal services, running advocacy campaigns, and building multiracial, multi-issue coalitions,” said Stanette Dixon, volunteer coordinator from Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement. “We are coming together to advance a new vision for California’s democracy and dismantle racist barriers to civic participation that marginalize BIPOC, naturalized citizens, young, low-income, and low English proficiency voters.”

SB 846 is being reviewed in the Senate Appropriations Committee. The bill requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to transmit specified information to Secretary of State Shirley Weber for each person submitting a driver’s license application. To be eligible for voter registration or preregistration, these individuals must be United States citizens continued on page 4

LA County Reaches Settlement with ACLU to Improve Conditions in Jails

County/Business News

Los Angeles County has reached an agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union to significantly improve conditions in the jail system.

The agreement filed today with Judge Dean D. Pregerson in Rutherford v. Luna recognizes the improved conditions in the Inmate Reception Center (IRC) resulting from the remedial actions taken by the County in recent months to improve waiting times, overcrowding and unsanitary conditions. This work addresses the root causes of the issues raised in the ACLU’s Motion for Contempt and resolves that motion with no finding of contempt or contempt sanctions for the County.

Under the agreement, which requires the judge’s approval to become final, the County agrees to a series of limits on how long those in custody may be held in various areas to ensure more humane treatment.

This settlement recognizes corrective actions taken by the

County and allows the County to build on the momentum and focus achieved over the past several months to continue to:

—Decrease the jail population while balancing public safety concerns;

—Expand the capacity for community-based care for those who can be safely released or diverted from custody;

—Increase staffing to provide more robust care for those who must remain in custody;

—Align how we are using our jail facilities to better address the mental health needs of the jail population; and

—Adjust how we operate to support our compliance goals and better track our progress.

The County has:

The County has also actively engaged state agencies to expedite the transfer of individuals ordered to their facilities. This has reduced the total jail population, which has dropped from 14,209 to 13,176 (about 7%) from February 27 to June 9, 2023. We have also committed to building out the network of community beds for those who can safely be treated in the community mental health placements.

More than 2,900 individuals sentenced to state prison have been transferred with the population pending state prison transfer reduced from 1,543 to 607.

500 individuals declared felony incompetent to stand trial

The County’s Chief DOJ Compliance Officer Margaret L. Carter has been empowered to set priorities, expedite approvals and sustain focus across multiple departments to accomplish this goal. This multi-faceted work is being carried out by a wide range of LA County departments and divisions—including Correctional Health Services, the Justice, Care, and Opportunities Department, Mental Health, the Office of Diversion and Reentry, and the Sheriff’s Department— and relies on many others, including our justice partners in the courts and various State agencies, to achieve the broad systemic changes that will be required.

FTC takes on fraudulent student debt relief scams, fake ‘free trials’ Recent efforts build on $392 million returned in 2022

By Charlene Crowell

More than 37,800 student loan borrowers who were tricked by a student loan debt relief operation soon will share more than $3.3 million in restitution, thanks to enforcement action announced in mid-June by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The FTC began investigating Arete Financial Group in 2019 after complaints of false promises of student debt relief. The agency found that Arete Financial Group and several related companies used radio, television, online ads, and telemarketing calls promising their monthly fees would reduce or eliminate consumers’ student loan balances. Instead, borrowers were lured into illegal upfront payments because the firm falsely claimed to be affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education.

The June action follows another FTC enforcement action that delivered this April more than $1.1 million in refunds to 41,934 consumers who had been defrauded in so-called “free-trial offers”.

In that case, RevMountain,

LLC, Anasazi Management Partners, and 59 related corporate defendants were charged for deceptive “free trial” offers for tooth whiteners and other products to consumers who paid a small fee. Instead, consumers were charged, without their knowledge, for two ongoing subscriptions to nearly identical products that cost them approximately $200 a month, or until a cancellation was received. Information on all FTC refunds is available at: https://www.ftc. gov/enforcement/recent-ftccases-resulting-refunds/refundprograms-frequently-askedquestions.

Last year, FTC returned more than $392 million to more than 1.9 million consumers who registered complaints, according to the agency’s annual report. Auto sales and financing, payday lending, credit repair and debt relief were targets of other successful enforcement in 2022 that benefited consumers in every state.

For example, $9.8 million in restitution was paid to 66,355 consumers last November by an Illinois-based automobile dealership group, Napleton, that charged junk fees to consumers for unwanted add-ons such as payment insurance and paint protection. The dealership also advertised $90 down payments on mailers without disclosing the terms of repayment or annual percentage rate, as required by law, which led to consumers incurring hundreds or thousands of dollars in excessive fees. These actions violated multiple consumer protection laws including the Truth in Lending Act, and were brought in cooperation with the State of Illinois.

Similarly, a 2022 case involving Harvest Moon Financial, an internet-based payday lending enterprise that included 11 firms, multiple websites and telemarketing, bilked millions of dollars from consumers through deception about the terms of their loans and an absence of required loan disclosures.

“Harvest Moon bled consumers dry, by promising a single payment payday loan, but then automatically debiting consumers’ bank accounts for finance charges every two weeks, in perpetuity,” said Andrew Smith, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Further, the firm made withdrawals from consumers’ checking accounts without authorization, violations of both the FTC Act and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act. FTC secured a $970,000 refund for the scam’s victims.

Last year in written testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, reminded lawmakers of the agency’s value to the nation.

“The FTC is charged with tackling unfair or deceptive practices—be it businesses who lie about products being Made in America, fraudsters who peddle fake COVID cures, or firms who abuse consumer data—and we’re responsible for rooting out unfair methods of competition that can crush entrepreneurs and stifle innovation,” stated Kahn. “I have asked staff to orient our enforcement efforts around targeting and rectifying root causes to avoid a whacka-mole approach that imposes significant enforcement burden with few long- term benefits. We are also ensuring that our work is tackling the most significant harm across markets, particularly by dominant firms whose business practices affect huge swaths of Americans.”

Ms. Khan also advised that these accomplishments came despite successive budget cuts in 2017 and 2018 that left the agency with two-thirds of the staff it had in 1980.

Even so, recent enforcement actions continue the proconsumer achievement. Now as Congress resumes its annual appropriations process, it would be useful to remind lawmakers of what’s really working for the people.