Publisher’s Commentary by Wallace J. Allen IV
2: $10 billion bonds to build educational facilities Schools, Yes
3: Right to Marry, Yes
4: $10 Billion Bonds funding environmental projects, Yes
5: Easier 55% vote to pass; Housing Bonds, Yes
6: End involuntary servitude, Yes
32: Increase minimum wage to $18, Yes
33: Too Much Rent Control, No
34: Requires Health Care Providers to use 98% of pharmaceutical revenue for services, Yes
35: Tax on MCO’s to fund Medi-Cal, Yes
36: More Arrests, No
Publisher’s Commentary by Wallace J. Allen, IV
Racial equity was the cornerstone of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s mission and messaging. A mission and messaging that is being as blatantly challenged today by bigots as it was during the height of the Civil Rights Movement!
This resurgence of hate and bigotry must be met by a renewed commitment to not only refuse to be bigots, but also become anti-bigots as individuals, and as institutions! To exemplify the local urgency, please note the recent settlement by the Department of Justice (DOJ), City of Hesperia and the San Bernardino County Sheriff for enforcing rental policies that discriminate against Black folks.
The Westside Story Newspaper, founded in 1987, has earned the reputation as a trusted advocate for and is a messenger to the Black and Brown Communities of the Inland Empire, particularly in the cities of Rialto, San Bernardino, and Fontana, where the concentration of Black people is the greatest. Colton and Highland are also experiencing growth in the population of Blacks.
I am asking that you place your message in one of, or both of the special January issues of WssNews that acknowledge the celebration of Dr. King’s life and mission. Your advertising participation will help to clarify and reinforce the perception that you and your institution support the concepts of racial and social equity as represented by Dr. King. It will also indicate that you not only reject bigotry but are fighting it as well!
WssNews will publish two “Salute to Martin” editions. January12 will focus on planned events and January 19 will cover results of some of those events.
Call WssNews at (909) 384-8131 and leave your contact information or email walleniv@yahoo.com. Use ‘Anti-Bigot’ as the Subject.
Publisher’s Commentary by Wallace J. Allen, IV
A surveillance video depicting the July 16th shooting of 23-year-old Robert Adams, shows a plain looking dark colored auto driving onto a parking lot… Simultaneously a man with something in his hand begins walking towards the car but suddenly turns and quickly takes off running away towards some cars parked near a wall… As he is running away, two men exit the car, one starts shooting… The man running falls to the ground.
I am told by authorities that the men in the dark colored auto were police investigating an illegal gambling site and that the man shot was working as illegal security for the illicit operation… And that he was running to a place of shelter from where he could shoot at the police… So the officer felt threatened and began firing… Robert Adams died with multiple bullet wounds in the back.
Police say the object in Robert’s hand was a gun… Robert’s mother says that she was on the phone with Robert when he was shot… She says that she heard the gunshots that took her son’s life! Was the object in his hand a gun or a phone?
The video, as I see it, does not look like a police operation… The car the police are in does not appear to be a police car nor do the men in the car look like police! The only thing that identifies this as a police operation is the police explanation of what my eyes see! My eyes, without the police voice-over description, see two men jumping from an auto and after two or three steps, one immediately starts shooting at a fleeing man!
I was enticed to be influenced by negative statements about Robert’s past. Enticed to believe that he was a ‘bad dude’ that deserved to be shot. My logic injects, if Robert was all that they say he was, why did they not arrest him sooner… Why wait for fate to put Robert on the table… Wait for fate to bring this ‘bad dude’ to them during a police operation that the police say was based on investigating illegal gambling? That means that the police did not go to that site with Robert Adams as their subject of attention! If Robert was not their reason for being there, it appears that the description of Robert as a ‘bad dude’ is a convenient after-thought to justify the killing!
The video content does not look like a police operation… It looks more like a low budget film depicting a gangland hit job!
Does police policy identify everyone that has a gun in their possession as someone police officers can shoot with indemnity? There are many people who have the right to carry a gun! How does the police policy deal with that? If officers have clearance to shoot because they feel threatened by someone that appears to have a gun, how does the public deal with that? Is it policy to shoot people because they run from people with guns who don’t look like police? If police are threatened enough by people with guns to shoot them, surely, we can understand why people are threatened enough by people with guns to run from them!
If the San Bernardino Police Department policy allows for officers to wear unofficial looking uniforms and drive plain looking autos to go out to investigate, but, end up shooting first and figuring out why later, the City is going to both, go broke from being sued and go to hell for being the devil!
Robert Adams was a Black Man, loved by his family and respected by his friends… And, even the police who ended his life, point out that he had a job!
Publisher’s Commentary by Wallace Allen IV
I think that the ‘slap heard round the world’ was a skit. The sports’ world use of instant replay has demonstrated the importance of the angle that you see from. We had a bad angle! Actors throw fake punches for a living! It looked real, except for Chris’ reaction. He said, “Wow, Will Smith just smacked the s#@% out of me!”, and was moving on until Will yelled out from his seat that he had quickly returned to. Chris gave him a few more seconds to get his clown on, as Will screamed out several times about ‘My wife’! Then, on with the show!
Will had delivered what appeared to be a wind-up slap that should have at least knocked Chris down! Chris didn’t fall, though he did stumble backward, as his script would call for to make the slap look real. I think that Will did not slap the s— out of Chris! I think the joke was missed by an audience that was ready to accept some Negro shenanigans as part of the ‘coloring of the Oscars’…causing the joke to be taken seriously, giving the Smiths’ a ton of chaos-based publicity that they feed on, so well!
The above opinions are not fact based and neither are any of my interesting observations below.
Publishers Commentary by Wallace J. Allen IV
There would be no reason to teach Black History if the history taught in America was truly America’s history; however, American history, as it is taught, is America’s glorification of White people. Black History is acknowledged as information not only untold, but often denied and purposefully hidden by White society in general and European based political entities in specific. From the false religious interpretations justifying the enslavement of Africans to the present-day denial of institutional based systematic racism; we can conclude that if truth is important, teaching Black History is necessary! We are confronted today with the governor of Florida perpetuating a racist theory by wallowing in the sloppy racist concept that teaching the truth about the history of Black People will make white children feel guilty, and thus should not be taught! I say that denying truth should not be considered as comforting!
The fact that American history as taught does not accurately depict the pain and anguish of enslavement and its denial of basic human needs and human rights, to the enslaved, is undeniable… That fact is the justification of why Black History must be taught! Why are there Black and white American Legions, Black and white medical associations, Black and white lawyer associations, Black and white fraternities and sororities? The short answer is that the white organizations denied entry to Blacks.
America is a living organ that has not only a potential for life but also like all living things, has a potential for death! Any entity that denies its past is existing as a lie! The past only becomes the past when it is acknowledged! When the past is regarded and treated like a dirty secret, it requires all who keep it to become liars! Existing as a liar, running from the truth, is, in my opinion, not living! America needs to tell her truth if she is to live!
I do not regard uninformed or misinformed people as liars. Those that know better are the only ones responsible for doing better! Those who know the truth are responsible for telling the truth!
Why is there a Black History Month?
Please study and explore the history of Black people in and beyond the American experience. Ask the questions! Seek the answers! Think critically! Tell and be the truth!
Publisher’s Commentary by Wallace Allen
Testing The Test!
The test for COVID-19 is being suggested by some and required by some others. Various activities and events may require evidence of a negative test in order to participate or attend. Having a negative test days before the planned activity or event is often the recommended policy that represents the safe way to gather with others.
Does a negative result from a COVID-19 test truly indicate the COVID-19 status of the person who took the test?
Should we consider the recent exposure that occurred too recently for the test to detect or exposure any time after the test?
Thinking it through seems to suggest that the only thing that the test can really determine is if someone were negative at the time of the test, which is not an indication of their immediate, and certainly not their long-term status, such as one day later.
Taking the vaccine has become a social argument that is now documenting strong results for the vaccinated; however, the unvaccinated have among them some that take the efficiency gaps in bureaucratic policy, logic and procedures as reason to fight the shot.
If we were all tested daily, we would find people that test positive today who tested negative yesterday.
Insisting that taking the test is a truly relevant procedure feeds that skepticism. The energy and resources used on testing are probably better used elsewhere.
Senate Republicans, by rejecting the Congressional COVID-19 Stimulus Plan, are encouraging COVID-19, suppressing the economy, suppressing the vote and promoting chaos! Cashless renters are facing eviction… Cashless mini-landlords and cashless homeowners are threatened with foreclosure! Small and large businesses are closing because they have no consumers!
The Republican leadership is obviously willing to kill urban dwelling minorities and Democrats! The red state governors proved that with their “no mask- crowds welcome- get back to work” policies utilized in their urban area! This opinion was declared ridiculous when I first suggested it in March… Now the term “killer republicans” has a hat-rack!
The fact that the COVID-19 stimulus, if delivered, will also benefit poor and middle class Republican voters, is either invisible to or ignored by Senate Republicans! It appears that Senate Republicans are mean-spirited enough to sacrifice poor and middle class republican voters along with minorities and Democrats! They are willing to do it all in order to maintain their racist, inequitable, self-serving, freedom eroding power.
People are dying daily from the virus and yet, Republican leaders are still sending mixed messages regarding COVID-19 policy… Their lack of action on the stimulus plan will definitely suppress the small business economy! It will cause evictions which will disproportionately affect minorities and poor people… Evictions and foreclosures will cause address changes, which can void voter registrations and suppress votes!
Walk together children, and don’t you get weary! There is a long hot road ahead!
It will probably be safe to group and gather at work when City Councils, County Supervisors, School Boards, State Legislatures and Congress members begin meeting face to face. When the Courts open up the courts. When the New York Stock Exchange opens the floor for trading. When the NBA, MLB and NFL team owners meet in the same room to negotiate with their respective Players Union representatives. When the medical and scientific experts are comfortable meeting with the public in person to discuss COVID-19. Until then, please continue to wash your hands, keep your distance, wear a mask, and evolve into the healthy lifestyle that will build your immune system and help you fight off the virus!
WHAT WILL HAPPEN to the Joe Biden campaign if he announces that he will appoint President Barack Obama as Attorney General on day one of his Presidency?
WHAT IF Biden names some of his Cabinet members prior to the election. Would a Biden Cabinet Dream Team help his candidacy?
WHAT DO YOU THINK will be the impact/effects of a Biden Cabinet Dream Team campaigning to ‘hit the ground running’?
WHO DO YOU NOMINATE for what Cabinet position in the Biden Administration Cabinet Dream Team?
During The COVID-19 Crisis I choose to shelter and move cautiously. If you choose to gather and group, either to protest or work, I support your right to do so. I just request that you allow your movement to be contact tracked and your health be monitored so that science and the rest of us can benefit from your social experiment.
Publisher’s Commentary by Wallace J. Allen IV
My number one recommendation is that you vote… Either vote early, vote by mail or go to your polling place on November 6th and pick up and fill in your ballot! I am willing to tell you how I am going to vote on State issues, and being that “Politics is Local”, I am willing to live with your decisions and deal with our local elected officials and staff at our regular meetings… Councils, boards, commissions, etc…
Regarding the eleven propositions that are on our state wide ballot; Prop 1; Prop 2, Prop 3, and Prop 4 are bonds… I vote Yes! They allow the State to Borrow money for these projects today and pay back with interest in the future. If you vote yes, be prepared to “follow the money” and how it is really spent! If you vote against them, we prolong the problem with no immediate replacement solution. However it goes those of us who are compassionate will always find ways to help others. And you can be sure that there are people who will need it!
Prop 5 allows a homeowner tax break for senior citizens… I vote Yes! I am a senior citizen homeowner!
Prop 6 repeals the recent gas tax and vehicle registration fee… I vote No! The tax costs me money and thus I am looking at a non-gas-burning –vehicle, and maybe you should too. Plus our roads need help which means, “follow the money”!
Prop 7 saves daylight… I vote No! Whatever you do is fine with me, I am not a morning person!
Prop 8 reflects the ongoing war between health-care and profits… And in this case the unions are pushing for what they regard as their share. I vote No! Your vote will not end the war. Only when we decide which is more important, profit or people, will that be solved. Hint, people can create profit, profit cannot create people!
Prop 9 was disqualified by the courts!
Prop 10 gets rid of existing state restrictions on rent control leaving Cities and Counties to do as they please. I vote Yes! If we don’t like what they do we can vote them out!
Prop 11 solves a problem that does not exist… I vote No!
Prop 12 is expensive for food producers, but I have been told that the less trauma in the lives of animals that are raised for food, the better the taste! I vote Yes!
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