Local

By Lue Dowdy

It was a fabulous evening. This past Saturday, The Assistance League of San Bernardino hosted their 61st annual Headdress Ball which took place at the National Orange Show. This year’s theme was, ‘ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN IF YOU LET IT’ from the 1964 Mary Poppins Musical Film.

As the only African American model, Mrs. Scott truly represented for the culture and for First 5 San Bernardino. Wearing an extravagant headdress, that lit up showcasing the lovely London sky, the Queen did not miss a beat as she cat walked across the stage in her red heels and satin red gloves with matching sash showcasing the First 5 logo. Her headdress weighed over 20 pounds and was designed by SAM CHIEM. Mrs. Scott even showed off a few dance moves while her backup dancers from Author Murray Dance Studio cut a rug behind her. The choreography of the dancers was conducted by Choreographer, DREW RODRIQUEZ. LUCRETIA DOWDY and TRACI HOMAN of First 5 San Bernardino assisted in coordinating all her rehearsals and getting her ready for the big day.

A live auction was conducted by San Bernardino Councilman, DAMON ALEXANDER from the 7th Ward. Congratulations to FELICIA ALEXANDER as she’ll be stepping into position as the new president for the Assistance league of San Bernardino. Felicia will be the first African American Woman to hold the position. Yep, we’re breaking barriers.

The Assistance League of San Bernardino is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization that is committed to providing free service for children with San Bernardino.

Congratulations, Karen Scott on a job well done.

BIO of KAREN SCOTT:

Karen Scott is the Executive Director of the Children and Families Commission – First 5 San Bernardino (F5SB), serving all of San Bernardino County.  F5SB is a funding organization that supports services and systems of care for children prenatal through age 5, by investing revenue received from Prop 10, a tobacco tax initiative in California. Investments are aligned with a locally adopted strategic plan and are made upon approval by a 7-member Commission, which includes a San Bernardino County Board Supervisor, the Associate County Executive Officer, and the Director of the Department of Public Health.

Ms.  Scott’s education and background is in Public Administration and Administration of Justice, and she has worked in the realm of Human Services for San Bernardino County since 1978.  She has served as the Executive Director of First 5 San Bernardino for more than 15 years, leading the organization’s efforts to promote, support and enhance the health and early development of children, prenatal through age five, though coordinated and comprehensive systems of care that strengthen children, families, and communities, ensuring children are safe, healthy, and ready to enter and succeed in school and in life.

Karen has been married to James Scott for more than 40 years and they share 4 adult children and 6 grandchildren.

For more information about First 5 San Bernardino please visit website at www.First5Sanbernardino.org

SAN BERNARDINO, CA— Ephesians New Testament Church will host their Annual City-wide Pentecostal Crusade Revival. Everyone is welcome; there will be great, preaching, music and praise. Come and be revived, renewed, and blessed.

The revival will take place on June 6 to June 8 at 7 p.m. at 9161 Sierra Avenue, Suite #110 in Fontana, California.

For additional information, you may contact the church office at (909) 823-2310, Bishop Emory B. James, Sr. Pastor.

(ABC NEWS) —- Legendary singer Tina Turner, known for her sultry voice and a string of platinum hits, has died at age 83.

The news was confirmed on Turner’s official Facebook page.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tina Turner,” the statement said on Facebook. “With her music and her boundless passion for life, she enchanted millions of fans around the world and inspired the stars of tomorrow. Today we say goodbye to a dear friend who leaves us all her greatest work: her music. All our heartfelt compassion goes out to her family. Tina, we will miss you dearly.”

Turner became one of her era’s most enduring female artists, with smash hits like “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” and memorable movie appearances.

Rolling Stone once named her “one of the greatest singers of all time.”

Born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939, in Tennessee, Turner began performing at a young age. As a teenager, she immersed herself in the local rhythm and blues scene.

In 1956, she met Ike Turner from the band, Kings of Rhythm, and became part of their act under the stage name, Tina Turner.

Together, they recorded hits in the 1960s including, “A Fool in Love,” “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine,” “I Idolize You” and “River Deep — Mountain High” as part of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue.

Turner and Ike Turner married in Mexico in 1962, two years after the birth of their son, Ronnie.

Turner also released two solo albums while she was a member of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue: “Tina Turns the Country On!” in 1974 and “Acid Queen” in 1975.

Turner divorced Ike Turner in 1978, alleging years of physical abuse and infidelity.

In 2018, Turner opened up about the abuse she endured in an interview with The Sunday Times.

“There was violence, because he had this fear that I was going to leave him,” she said. “The other women, because I didn’t love him that way … the other women weren’t so bad, but it was the constant, constant ill treatment.”

In April, she told The Guardian that she wanted to be remembered as the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll” and “as a woman who showed other women that it is OK to strive for success on their own terms.”

Turner had four sons. She was preceded in death by her two biological children: Craig Raymond Turner — whom she shared with Raymond Hill — and Ronnie Turner — whom she shared with Ike Turner.

She is survived by her sons Ike Turner Jr. and Michael Turner, who she adopted from her ex-husband Ike Turner.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA— SummerFest returns to San Bernardino Valley College (SBVC)!  SBVC is proud to continue this one-of-a-kind partnership with the San Bernardino Symphony celebrating Independence Day.

Join the college for family-friendly fun, festivities and a concert on Thursday, July 1 at the SBVC Football Field from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The concert, titled “America, the Beautiful,” starts at 7:30 p.m. and is expected to draw thousands of attendees. The show ends with Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” and an exciting firework display.

Food vendors, face painters, games, and more are expected at this year’s SummerFest. You don’t want to miss out!

Click to purchase your concert tickets and read more about Summer Fest here!

PASADENA, CA—- The School of Entrepreneurship from the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration at the California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) will be hosting the UpStarters Discovery Camp on campus so high school students can get a first-hand look at the college experience and get a taste of entrepreneurship this summer.

The UpStarters Discovery Camp will run from June 20 to 22, 2023. Student guests will get the chance to stay in the newest dorms at CSUSB and receive 20 hours of intense entrepreneurial insights, develop skills to learn to Think Like an Owner™, and tips for getting the most out of college from a Top 50 Princeton Review ranked academic program. Students will also have the opportunity to engage with local entrepreneurs from different industries.

“This is a rare opportunity for students to get a taste of the college experience on campus in our new dorms,” said Stacey Allis, assistant director of the IECE and lecturer at the CSUSB School of Entrepreneurship. “They will learn real-life skills in innovation and entrepreneurship to apply to any professional level position.”

The two nights and three day-program at CSUSB is $299 per person. For more information visit https://entre.csusb.edu/content/udc. To Register visit https://iece.ticketleap.com/2023udc/.

By McKenzie Jackson | California Black Media

Nathan Carter wore numerous hats while working at McDonald’s restaurants. Eventually, he became the owner of several locations of the fast-food business in Los Angeles.

As a teenager, the Pasadena native prepared food, mopped floors, operated the register, repaired ice cream machines, and cleaned the playpens at McDonald’s locations owned by his father, Norman, a McDonald’s franchisee of 32 years.

The younger Carter enjoyed manning the drive-thru window.

“I loved having a complete shift without any errors in the drive-thru,” he recalled. “I learned and embraced it all.”

Carter worked in finance after graduating from college, but eventually returned to the golden arches business. It wasn’t McDonald’s mouth-watering sweet tea or tasty French fries that caused him to leave his cubicle though, says Carter. Instead, he missed interacting with people.
“I loved the fast pace, the comradery, and the getting to know — not just the people you are working with — but customers as well,” he stated. “I wanted to work alongside my father.”

In 2020, Carter became the owner of a McDonald’s location in Southeast Los Angeles. Currently, he owns three restaurants, while his father owns four. Together, the Carters employ at least 650 people at their McDonald’s restaurants, all located in Los Angeles County.
Carter, the son, is in the locations he owns daily.

“The environment is great,” he said. “We have great relationships and great pride in our employees. If they have any issues, they can come talk to me or my father.”

However, Carter and other owners of Golden State fast food locations like Arby’s, Chick-fil-A, Jack in the Box, and Subway have expressed concern that their hard work and the benefits of running their own profitable businesses could be impacted if Assembly Bill 1228 is passed by the California Legislature  and Gov. Gavin Newsom signs it into law.

The bill, also known as the Fast Food Franchisor Responsibility Act, was authored by Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena). If passed, AB 1228 would require major fast-food businesses and franchisees to share all legal responsibility and liability for the franchisee’s workplace health and safety violations of California Labor Law.

“The bill would authorize enforcement of those provisions against a franchisor, including administratively or by civil action, to the same extent that they may be enforced against the franchisee,” AB 1228’s text reads. “The bill would require that a franchisor has the opportunity to cure a violation after written notice, as prescribed, before civil action may be commenced. The bill would provide that a waiver of the bill’s provisions, or any agreement by a franchisee to indemnify its franchisor for liability, is contrary to public policy and is void and unenforceable.”

Currently, franchisees have control over operating decisions such as benefits, employee wages, hiring, scheduling, and workplace standards at their restaurants. Holden’s act would force national fast-food corporations to take control over these decisions at franchised locations, according to Stop the Attack on Local Restaurants, a coalition of 115 social justice advocates, restaurant owners, small business owners, and restaurant brands opposed to AB 1228.

Carter, a coalition member, called the bill an attack on franchisees’ rights.

“It takes away the ability to run our business,” he said. “This bill is a detriment to our relationship with our employees, the things we do in our community. If a bill like this passes, we won’t be able to do some of the things we love and are passionate about.”

Rick Callender, the President of the California Hawaii NAACP Conference, has noted that more than 30% of franchised businesses are run by people of color. AB 1228, Callender explained, would rob many Black franchisees, like the Carters, of their livelihoods.

“Legislators should reject this very bad bill,” he stated. “The NAACP won’t allow one of the strongholds for Black business ownership to be attacked in this fashion. AB 1228 will essentially take away Black people and other people of color’s right to operate their local restaurants independently and erasing much of the progress they’ve made to build economic equity and generational opportunity for their families and communities.”

When AB 1228 passed the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee on April 12, Holden, a former franchise owner, said the legislation makes it simpler for franchisees to pay, support, and protect their employees.

“We have the ability to do more for fast food employees by focusing on the relationship between franchisors and their franchisees,” he noted. “I believe many franchisees want to do right by the people that work for them but may not see it as possible under their franchisor’s terms and conditions. This can help to provide some relief while protecting employees and businesses.”

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), an AB 1228 supporter, currently said parent fast food businesses are protected from having to pay damages for violations of employment law.

Holden introduced AB 1228 in February around the same time another bill he penned, AB 257, was successfully opposed by Stop the Attack on Local Restaurants and its supporters.

The provisions in AB 1228 were originally stripped out of AB 257 before Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it into law last September.

That bill was set to establish sector-wide minimum standards on wages, working hours, and other working conditions. Opponents said the law would increase food costs and cause job losses in the fast-food industry. They gathered enough signatures to overturn the law and have a referendum on it placed to voters on the November 2024 ballot.

AB 1228 is scheduled to be reviewed during the Assembly’s Committee on Appropriations May 18 hearing. Holden is the committee’s chair.

Fast food corporations supply franchisees with food and equipment. Carter said that should be the extent of their relationship.

“The bill is something we all feel is not necessary,” he said. “We do things for our employees; we do things for our communities; and ultimately, we feel this bill is not needed.”

By Jaivon Grant | California Black Media

Malcolm X, originally known as Malcolm Little, was born 98 years ago on May 19, 1925. He was a prominent activist and minister during the 1960s civil rights movement. His unapologetic and passionate advocacy for Black rights brought him national attention. However, some have criticized his rhetoric as being extremist and racist.

Others explain that the assertive, Black nationalistic posture he took in his speeches was necessary for Civil-Rights-era America when discrimination and segregation were legal in many parts of the country and racism was routine in many aspects of life.

To that point, Malcolm X, who was assassinated in 1965 at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, spoke about what some considered his extremist viewpoints.

“I don’t believe in any form of unjustified extremism. But I believe that when a man is exercising extremism, a human being is exercising extremism, in defense of liberty for human beings, it’s no vice. And when one is moderate in the pursuit of justice for human beings, I say he’s a sinner,” he said.

In 1964, Malcolm X announced his separation from the Nation of Islam, changed his name again to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz and converted to Sunni Islam, the branch of the religion most Muslims around the world practice. After making a religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia and trips to Africa, Malcolm X began to preach less about America’s racist past and divisions and more about Pan Africanism and about the universality of principles like freedom, justice and human rights, especially as they concern people of African descent.

This week, as we celebrate what would have been Malcolm X’s 98th birthday on May 19, here are ten quotes that capture Malcolm X’s promotion of racial healing, tolerance and racial inclusion.

1. On self-love …

“There can be no Black-White unity until there is first some Black unity. We cannot think of uniting with others, until after we have first united among ourselves. We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves.”

2. On intermarriage …

“It’s just one human being marrying another human being or one human being living around and with another human being.”

3. On Truth and Justice …

“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.”

4. On Peace and Freedom …

“You can’t separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.”

5. On Racial and Religious Unity …

“During the past seven days of this holy pilgrimage, while undergoing the rituals of the hajj [pilgrimage], I have eaten from the same plate, drank from the same glass, slept on the same bed or rug, while praying to the same God—not only with some of this earth’s most powerful kings, cabinet members, potentates and other forms of political and religious rulers —but also with fellow?Muslims whose skin was the whitest of white, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, and whose hair was the blondest of blond—yet it was the first time in my life that I didn’t see them as ‘White’ men. I could look into their faces and see that these didn’t regard themselves as ‘White’”

6. On Love and Unity …

We need more light about each other. Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, love creates patience and patience creates unity.

7. On Learning to Hate …

“If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”

8. On Overcoming Hatred and Anger …

“Hatred and anger are powerless when met with kindness.”

9. On Fairness and Justice …

“You’re not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it.”

10. On Human Rights …

“I believe in human beings, and that all human beings should be respected as such, regardless of their color.”

This California Black Media report was supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.

By Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media

A coalition of movement-based organizations from various parts of California converged on the grounds of the State Capitol in Sacramento to send a message: Black Californians need financial resources to overcome setbacks caused by centuries of system and institutional racism.

The coalition, which included members of the California Black Freedom Fund, the Black Equity Collective, California Black Power Network, and LIVEFREE California called for $100 million over five years to strengthen the relationship between the public sector and philanthropy groups serving Black communities across the state.

The group delivered their message May 10, two days before Gov. Gavin Newsom presented the May Revision of his 2023-24 budget, and five days after the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans finalized its final report, which will be submitted to the Legislature on June 29.

During the rally, Kaci Patterson, who represents the Black Equity Collective (BEC), said grassroots organizations “are our communities’ first responders.”

“When we can go from disposable one day to essential workers the next, we know that this state knows how much they need us,” Patterson said. “And we are here today to say fund us like you know you need us. This budget ask is a down payment toward the state investing in who it says it wants to be.”

The BEC is a network of funders and nonprofit leaders committed to investing in the long-term sustainability of Black-led organizations in Southern California. The members of the coalition arrived in Sacramento from Fresno, San Bernardino, Oakland, Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Stockton, Pomona, Riverside, Pasadena, San Jose, San Francisco, San Diego, Fontana, Long Beach and other cities.

“There is a history of systemic racism that our community and our state refuses to reckon with. Yet, when there is a crisis — we can take the pandemic for example — all of a sudden, they need our organizations,” said Marc Philpart, Executive Director of the Black Freedom Fund.

“They want us to outreach to our community, they want us to engage, they want to use us, they want to exploit us,” he continued. “And what we are saying is no more. We are demanding every legislator, the governor and all constitutional officers to get behind our agenda.”

Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D-Riverside) joined the coalition at a news conference outside the State Capitol. Jackson, who was elected to office in November 2022, has a series of pending legislation that addresses inequality affecting Black communities. He supports the coalition’s efforts to secure funding.

“We are in a critical moment right now in our history as Black people here in California where we have an opportunity to reignite and strengthen our organizations and our communities so that we can create better agencies, better power to deal with our own historic inequities,” Jackson said. “We’ve been waiting too long for our government to help. It’s time for us to go about the business as our ancestors did and create for ourselves our own solutions.”

By Tanu Henry and Maxim Elramsisy | California Black Media

The 40 Acre Conservation League is working to acquire and conserve natural working lands towards greater human connection to nature for underrepresented groups.

Last week, the group held a meeting and reception in Sacramento and presented an award to Ernest Bufford, who owns a ranch located on 900-plus acres of land near Walker’s Basin in Kern County, according to ABC News 23.

Last year, the state awarded the non-profit a $3 million grant to ensure Black and other underrepresented communities have access to the great outdoors without fear.  The group’s founder Jade Stevens said she and other like-minded conservationists want to remove the social and historical barriers that prevent some African Americans from enjoying outdoor activities like, fishing, hiking, bird watching etc.

By Tanu Henry and Maxim Elramsisy | California Black Media

Gloria Molina, the first Latina to serve become a member of the California Assembly and on the first to serve on the L.A. City Council and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors has died of terminal cancer. She was 74.

“It is with heavy hearts our family announces Gloria’s passing this evening,” said Molina’s daughter Valentina Martinez in a statement. “She passed away at her home in Mt. Washington, surrounded by family.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass paid tribute to Molina.

“Gloria Molina was a force for unapologetic good and transformational change in Los Angeles,” wrote Bass in a statement. “As an organizer, a City Councilwoman, a County Supervisor and State Assemblywoman, Supervisor Molina advocated for those who did not have a voice in government through her pioneering environmental justice work, her role as a fiscal watchdog, and her advocacy for public health.

Bass said Molina “shaped Los Angeles in a lasting way while paving the way for future generations of leaders.”

“As the first woman mayor of Los Angeles, I know I stand on Supervisor Molina’s shoulders,” Bass acknowledged.