Local

J Anthony Brown

LOS ANGELES, CA- J Anthony Brown and the J Spot Comedy Club will be hosting a Jazz and Comedy Art Exhibit entitled, ‘One Diva and the Dudes’, on December 6 to December 8. The featured artist will be Annie Lee along with Ken Gatewood, Larry Poncho Brown, John Toms, La Shun Beal, Melvin King, Charles Bibbs, Charlie Black, Frank Frazier, Andre Hines, Robert Stevenson and J Anthony Brown. On December 6 there will be a VIP reception and the exhibit will kick off at 6 p.m. An RSVP is required for this night. On December 7 at 4 p.m. there will be a question and answer session with the artists and the exhibit will start at 11 a.m. and go on all day, and on December 8, the exhibit will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, please visit www.janthonybrown.com or call 310-801-4503. The J Spot is located at 5581 W. Manchester Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90145.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- For those who love to travel and have the time, then you should be at the San Bernardino Area Chamber of Commerce information meeting where they will be discussing the details for a trip to Russia, cruising Moscow to St. Petersburg. The meeting will be taking place on Tuesday, December 3 at the Chamber office, 546 W. 6th Street, San Bernardino. The trip is scheduled for September 22 to October 4, 2014 and includes round trip airfare from LAX, 13 days, tour guides, cruise ship and port charges and 27 meals. The trip itinerary includes Moscow, Red Square, Volga River, St. Basil’s Cathedral, Blini and Caviar and the Kremlin with Armory Museum. In addition, there will also be local school and family home visits, a Piroshki Tea Party, a visit to the St. Petersburg Hermitage Museum, Vodka tasting and a visit to Catherine Palace and Kizhi Island. Those who are interested should attend the meeting where they will be given an information packet. To RSVP call Lupe Castaneda at 909-885-7515 or email sba.chamber@verizon.net.

LOS ANGELES, CA – Women of Color, Inc. will be presenting their 3rd Annual Girls Night Out, “Shopping 4 a Cause” (benefit fundraiser) on Thursday, December 5 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the California African American Museum, 600 State Drive (Exposition Park) in Los Angeles. This is a night to enjoy with you girls as you guys enjoy cocktails, live entertainment, gourmet foods and much more. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door, which includes a gift bag. For more information, please call 310-674-6700 or visit www.woci.org.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- Volunteers and staff from the San Bernardino Boys & Girls Club packed Thanksgiving food baskets for the underserved community on Tuesday, November 26. Over 500 food baskets were prepared and given away. Director of the Boys & Girls Club, A. Majadi, said that he was extremely proud of the volunteers and very thankful to the sponsors, and that this event was successful because of the support from the Community Action Partnership, The Westside Action Group and Stater Bros.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- Young Visionary Youth Leadership Academy in partnership with the Black Voice Foundation have been awarded a major grant by the San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health to provide a resilience promotion in African-American children and their families within San Bernardino County targeting students primarily within the San Bernardino  Unified School District (SBUSD). The three year funded grant, Successfully Motivating  African-Americans in Resiliency Training (SMAART), is a 12-week, multi-year, intensive K-8 program that will be a hub of high expectations. The program will directly support the SBUSD strategic plan.
“Our goal is to support community organizations, parents and students to achieve the goal of inspiring families toward their successful future” Terrance Stone, CEO of Young Visionaries, said.
SMAART is partnered with the Department of Equity and Targeted Student Achievement, and the African-American Parent Advisory Council from the San Bernardino City Unified School District and Hardy Brown College Prep, a charter school located in downtown San Bernardino.
The program’s goals and objectives include:   reducing the risks of juvenile justice involvement; weekly lessons completed in collaboration with SBUSD schools; conflict resolution among students; effective Black parenting; mentor workshops; history and heritage that will bring greater understanding to families; and health and wellness workshops to increase awareness.

Linda L. Smith

A Profile of Courage: Linda L. Smith. On Saturday, December 21 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at The Hour Glass Wine and Art Gallery, 8200 Haven Avenue, Suite 103, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730; the screening of independent filmmaker, Reginald D. Brown’s documentary “A Profile of Courage: Linda L Smith” will be screened. Smith is the Founder and CEO of Four-D College, a vocational nursing school in Colton and Victorville.  Today, she remains the only African American to have a fully accredited career college offering vocational nursing and other allied health programs in the State of California. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served. For tickets please visit www.eventbrite.com/e/a-profile-in-courage-linda-l-smith-tickets-9251474409.

East and Be Well is back this Thanksgiving season.

FONTANA, CA – A follow up to its successful experience last year, East and Be Well is back this Thanksgiving season. The second annual, one-day event will be held on Wednesday, November 27  from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Seville Park and Cypress Neighborhood Center, 8380 Cypress Avenue, Fontana, CA 92335. Led by a socially conscious steering committee from the Inland Southern California’s business and non-profit communities, including co-founders Christopher A. Suchánek (CEO/Firm Media) and Ana Karina Suchánek, Eat and Be Well supports the underserved of San Bernardino County. Not only does this occasion provide a hearty Thanksgiving meal to the community, it provides participants access to free health and wellness resources. Last year’s  event was a success right off the bat, pulling in over 20 nonprofit, for profits, and county and government agencies together to work together to serve 1,600 plates and provide health services. The steering committee’s objective for this year’s event is to serve 2,500 plates, while maintaining the overall goal and vision of being able to “establish consistency”. According to Josiah Bruny, a member of the Eat and Be Well steering committee and founder of Music Changing Lives (MCL) the second annual event will be “bigger and better!”

Marques Houston

UPLAND, CA-  United Swag of America will be presenting a special one night only performance featuring  music sensation Marques Houston on Sunday, November 17 at The Palace, 1276 W. 7th Street, Upland, CA 91786. In addition to the music performance by Houston, there will be $3 drinks, $2 shots, food and hookah. Platinum producer Tony Touch will also be spinning Hip-Hop, R&B, Latin and Top 40 jams throughout the night. Cover charge is $15 before 10 p.m., and all guests must 21 and over to enter. Concert tickets can be purchased at www.marqueshoustonlive.eventbrite.com. For VIP tables and bottle service please call 702-409-5388.

PERRIS, CA- Thomas the Tank Engine is chugging into the Orange Empire Railway Museum for the 2013 “Go Go Day Out With Thomas” tour on November 9, 10, 11 and 16 and 17. “Day Out With Thomas” offers aspiring engineers and their families the opportunity to take a 25-minute ride with the classic story book engine and meet Sir Topham Hatt, the Superintendent of the Railroad on the Island of Sodor. According to board chairman Tom Jacobson, this is a great family event that introduces a new generation to timeless excitement of railroading. He has been lead organizer of “Day Out With Thomas” since it began 12 years ago.  In addition to the train ride, children may also engage in a petting zoo, hay bale maze, entertainment by Jules Music 4 Kids and caboose train and trolley rides. It is encouraged by museum staff that tickets be purchased early and that that families should arrive no later than one hour prior to scheduled departure. Tickets start at $19 for ages two and older. For more information and to purchase tickets, call the Orange Empire Railway Museum office at 951-943-3020 or visit www.oerm.org.

Thomas the Tank Engine Returns to the Inland Empire

(Back row, left to right: Superintendent Dale Marsden, Jones Elementary School students, WWAM Board member Juanita Webster, WWAM Board member Josh Scott and Dr. Margret Hill. Front row, left to right: Jones Elementary School student, WWAM supporter Lenda K. Winn, WWAM Sectary Aubrey Winn, WWAM President Dr. Deborah Winn, Jones Elementary Principal Ramone Valslo and CAPS Youth Leader Chevangh Green.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- Willing Winn Association and Mission, Inc., (WWAM) adopted Juanita Blackly Jones Elementary School on Tuesday, November 5. The adoption ceremony was part of the Adopt-A-School program, a joint effort by the San Bernardino City Unified School District and San Bernardino Chamber of Commerce to forge partnerships between schools and the community. WWAM members are committed to implementing the It Starts At Home (ISAH) program into the school. The CAAP program at the school has already been providing tutoring and meals to students after school. ISAH will assist in being a benefit to the school by bringing in more activities such as sports and music programs. ISAH will also have a parenting education center will they will assist parents in becoming more self-efficient and getting back on their feet through basic living and life skills programs. According to WWAM, Juanita Blackly Jones Elementary School is the first school to be adopted in San Bernardino. To learn more about Jones Elementary School, visit www.sbcusd.com/jones . For more information regarding the Adopt-A-School program, visit www.sbcusd.com/adoptaschool.