LONG BEACH, CA—- In an effort to assist the many Californians affected by the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, Molina Healthcare of California (“Molina”) has donated a total of more than $100,000 to dozens of local organizations across the state, supporting grassroots efforts in communities. The grants and supply donations will help the nonprofits provide hygiene essentials, food, financial support, and other resources to help vulnerable communities during the pandemic.
“We are extremely grateful, especially during these trying times, to have dedicated partners that are committed to alleviating some of the barriers that many families are experiencing,” said John Kotal, plan president of Molina Healthcare of California. “We understand that many people are feeling increased uncertainty at this time. It’s comforting to provide donations to nonprofits that are working tirelessly to ensure supplies and support are provided directly to those in need.”
Molina is providing necessities and financial donations to more than 75 organizations throughout the six state counties it serves (Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, Orange County and Imperial). The organizations Molina has identified serve a wide range of populations such as seniors, children, people experiencing homelessness, individuals with mental health and substance abuse issues, people with disabilities and more.
Molina Healthcare continues to seek opportunities to supplement the resources of its community partners throughout this crisis. The leadership team is working closely with its executive task force, along with following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and departments of health, to regularly evaluate and communicate information to its members, network providers, employees, government and community partners.
For members seeking information about COVID-19 risk factors, this week Molina launched its Coronavirus Chatbot, an enhanced digital tool available on the Molina website, member portal, and mobile app.
We must honor them with clear political action vs. the impatience of a microwave movement
As outrage, fear and angst bubble up in Georgia and, now, Kentucky over the grisly murders of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, one question fails to appear in the broader dialogue: How will these tragedies impact the 2020 elections?
We can’t do anything for “the culture” about either case if we’re not engaged in a targeted political strike on three Senate seats, helping Democrats retake the Senate and (just maybe), grabbing 24 electoral college votes that flip two Southern states from reliably red to blue in an end to the current White House madness.
To the novice political observer or those folks who detest politics altogether, the question seems irrelevant. To some, it may seem off-putting, if not disrespectful: “WTF you mean politics?”
But, it’s very relevant.
In fact, it absolutely determines the path and outcome of these cases, and where the rest of us end up in the meantime. Whether we accept it or not, the political dimensions are there, the very raw emotional elements in these conversations are already tipping off a general outcry for justice and retribution. We can’t arrive at either with just hashtags, protest tears or fist pumps in the lockdown confines of our homes. Achieving both will be the result of pressures applied from an aligned mix of strategically calibrated protest, mass voter mobilization, and decisive election wins that lead to the dramatic policy (and personnel) changes needed for redress.
Sacramento – In just over eight weeks the state of California went from a $6 billion projected budget surplus to an over $50 billion budget deficit. The Governor’s May revise reflects the harsh realities of the impact of Covid-19 on our state’s finances and the financial stability of each and every Californian.
Over the past several budget years the California Legislature led the nation by building up the largest budget reserve of any state in the nation to mitigate a potential recession. However, even with our prudent planning the scope and size of this Covid-19 caused deficit means that California still needs federal assistance to prevent devastating budget cuts that would have long term implications for education and our social safety net programs.
In the coming weeks the Assembly, along with the Senate will work to meet our Constitutional budget deadline of June 15th to fine tune the budget proposal so that we can minimize cuts and began the process of building a strong future.
The singer and songwriter Betty Wright, who has died of cancer aged 66, occupied a significant position in African-American music across six decades, beginning with powerhouse gospel in the 1950s and settling on an R&B, soul and funk groove from the 60s onwards that eventually led to work with superstar rappers of the 2000s.
Wright’s career began as a young child in a gospel group in Florida, and her signature song, Clean Up Woman (1971), was recorded when she was only 17, epitomising what became known as “the Miami sound” – Floridian soul music shaped by the many facets of her home city’s cultural melange.
After years of solid achievement in the US as a singer and songwriter, in the mid-80s she set up her own record label and, although she continued to record her own material, began to make a new name for herself as a producer and songwriter, collaborating with the likes of Gloria Estefan and Joss Stone. Later still her material was much sampled – including by Beyoncé – and she was able to undertake projects with rappers such as Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne.
She was born in Miami, to Rosa (nee Braddy-Wright) and McArthur Norris. The infant Bessie – as Betty was christened – was co-opted into the family gospel group, the Echoes of Joy, at the age of two. The Echoes worked the Southern US gospel circuit and Bessie proved to be a vocal prodigy – so much so that by the time the group split in 1965, she was confident enough to start singing on her own, in a new R&B vein, and with a new name – Betty Wright.
Willie Clarke and Clarence Reid, two Miami-based musicians, were so impressed by the young girl that they signed her to Deep City, the only African-American record label in Florida. Wright’s debut 45, Paralysed, was released in 1965, and it sold well locally. However, Deep City lacked the resources to promote records properly, and so Reid and Clarke eventually passed Wright on to Henry Stone, a distributor with experience and contacts who was launching Alston Records in Miami.
Aged 14, Wright recorded her debut album for Alston, My First Time Around (1968), which not only revealed her to be a formidable soul singer but generated a single, Girls Can’t Do What the Guys Do, that reached the Top 40s of the US and Canadian pop charts.
Although subsequent singles failed to make much of an impression, Wright continued to sing in the Miami clubs on the weekends, building up valuable contacts in the music business. Then chart success returned in 1971 with Clean Up Woman, written by Clarke and Reid, which got to No 6 in the US. Based around a distinctive guitar lick played by Willie Hale, Clean Up Woman’s breezy, danceable funk ensured that Wright would be one of the few school pupils ever to have turned 18 with a million-selling hit record behind her.
The song also helped to launch the Miami sound, whose origins Wright associated firmly with the city’s vibrant and fluctuating cultural scene. “You’ve got a little Cuba, a little Jamaica, and a little Haiti; you’ve got a large Jewish culture and you’ve got calypso,” she told Billboard magazine. “Then you’ve got people who were born here or came from South Carolina, where they’ve got a heavy African culture too. It’s a very rhythmic roots music. Even the white acts that come out of Miami tend to be very soulful. We’ve got that serious, serious conga rhythm.”
Wright continued to produce popular songs across the 1970s – Baby Sitter, Let Me Be Your Lovemaker, Secretary, Where is the Love?, Tonight is the Night – although none quite matched the success of Clean Up Woman and generally made more of an impact on the US R&B charts than in the pop sphere. A prolific songwriter, she won a Grammy for Best R&B Song in 1976 for Where is the Love?, a song she had co-written.
Signing to Epic Records in 1981, Wright quickly grew disillusioned with the restrictions of being with a major company, and so launched her own Ms B record label in 1985. With her 1987 album Mother Wit she became the first African American woman to achieve a gold album on her own label.
From that point onwards, however, Wright began to achieve greater success by working with other artists. Estefan’s US No 1 single Coming Out of the Dark (1991) featured Wright’s vocal arrangements, and Wright co-produced and co-wrote every track on Stone’s 2004 album Mind, Body & Soul, which reached No 1 in the UK.
In 2006 she appeared as a mentor on the US reality TV talent show Making the Band, and in 2008 produced two songs on Tom Jones’s album 24 Hours. Her 2011 album, Betty Wright: The Movie, featured Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne, and was praised by reviewers as her best effort in 30 years.
Wright continued to tour almost up to her death – she sold out the Barbican Centre in London in July 2019 – and earned considerable amounts from her back catalogue. Clean Up Woman has often been sampled, while Beyoncé used a section of Girls Can’t Do What the Guys Do for her 2006 single Upgrade U.
In 1985 Wright married Noel “King Sporty” Williams, a Jamaican musician who had co-written the song Buffalo Soldier with Bob Marley. Noel died in 2015; Wright is survived by three daughters and a son. Another son, Patrick Parker, was murdered in 2005.
Betty Wright (Bessie Regina Norris), singer and songwriter, born 21 December 1953; died 10 May 2020
SACRAMENTO – A day after submitting his May Revision to the Legislature, Governor Gavin Newsom today met with Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, Senate Budget Chair Holly Mitchell, and Assembly Budget Chair Phil Ting to discuss efforts to enact a balanced budget by July 1.
.A. County Lifeguard PSA on Beach Regulations and B-Roll Available For Download
Los Angeles – Los Angeles County announced the re-opening of its beaches as of May 13 for individual sports, exercise and similar physical activity. Permitted activities include walking, running, swimming and surfing. Face coverings are required at all times on the beach unless in the water and around other people, and the county urges everyone to keep at least six feet of physical distancing from other visitors. Once finished with an activity, all beachgoers are asked to head home.
For now, parking lots, piers, boardwalks and biking paths will remain closed. Sunbathing, group sports, large gatherings, beach chairs, coolers and umbrellas are not allowed to help ensure proper physical distancing. If anyone headed to the beach feels sick or lives with someone who is sick, they are being asked to stay home.
Download LA County Lifeguard Pono Barnes Beach Reopening PSA in ENGLISH (Credit LA County): https://vimeo.com/417827870
Download LA County Lifeguard Marco Rodriguez Beach Reopening PSA in SPANISH (Credit LA County: https://vimeo.com/417828268
Download LA County Beach B-Roll (Credit LA County): HERE
It was as if Jeremiah was the lone person aboard the Titanic who knew that the ship was on a collision course with an iceberg. It was his task to convince the crew and the passengers that they were doomed if they didn’t change course. That there was still time—if they would just listen. But the captain and the people plugged their ears and didn’t course correct. They just kept dancing and dining to their demise. “The Weeping Prophet” cried when no one would heed God’s Warnings.
Jeremiah spent forty years telling the people what would happen. And they didn’t listen. They were warned, over and over and over, but they did not repent. Then God told Jeremiah that He had had enough. “I am tired of holding back…declared the Lord. Because they have rejected me, I will bring bereavement and destruction on my people, for they have not changed their ways. I will make their widows more numerous than the sand of the sea … I will put the survivors to the sword before their enemies.” “I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,” declares the Lord, “the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds and the wild animals to devour and destroy…[Jeremiah 15:2-3, 5-9].
I tell you, the harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. [Jeremiah 8:20]. Listen, God’s judgment is coming. Right now, mercy is available, but one day God will draw a line in the sand and there will be no more opportunity. Don’t ignore the warning! Warning comes before destruction. Heed the Warning! Repent! Knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. [Romans 13:11]
Case in point.: The major prophetic events coming up on God’s calendar are these:
The rapture of the church [1 Thessalonians 4:16-18; 1 Corinthians 15:50-58].
The seven year tribulation period [Daniel 9:27; 12:1-12].
The rebuilding of the Temple [there is no specific prophecy about rebuilding the Temple, but several prophecies happen within and around the Temple, so we know it must be rebuilt].
The Antichrist will establish a one world economic system with some form of identification placed inside everyone’s right hand or forehead [Revelation 13:16-18].
The return of Jesus Christ at the battle of Armageddon [Revelation 19:11-21; Zechariah 14:4].
The Millenium – Christ sitting on the throne in Jerusalem for one thousand years [Revelation 20:1-10].
Following The Millenium is the final judgment of the unsaved and the ushering in of eternity for the redeemed [Revelation 20:11-22:21].
All of these are Biblical prophecies to take place during the Tribulation, and we are watching them taking shape around us now. These events are coming just as sure as Jeremiah knew Babylon was on her way.
In Luke’s account, Jesus tells us that “when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near” [Luke 21:31]. Then He warns about not letting “that Day come on you unexpectedly” [Luke 21:34]. Jesus concludes by saying, “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” [Luke 21:36].
“But if they will not listen, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and destroy it,” declares the Lord. [Jeremiah 12:17]
“To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed and they cannot listen. Behold, the word of the Lord has become a reproach to them; They have no delight in it.”
[Jeremiah 6:10]
“The Weeping Prophet” Cried, When No One Would Heed God Warnings!
Two weeks ago, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp drew sharp criticisms from African Americans across the country.
Black politicians, social media commenters, and others blasted the governor, saying his decision to lift his state’s month-long stay-at-home order by first opening businesses like barbershops, nail salons, sneaker stores, tattoo parlors, gyms, and bowling alleys put the lives of Blacks at risk. Those are businesses African Americans frequent, his critics pointed out.
But unlike Georgia, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said businesses like barbershops, beauty shops, and nail salons will not be allowed to begin servicing their customers again until the third phase of the Golden State’s reopening plan.
“Phase three is not a year away. It’s not six months away. It’s not even three months away. It may not even be more than a month away,” Newsom said at his daily press conference Friday. “We just want to make sure we have a protocol in place to secure customer safety, employee safety, and allow the businesses to thrive in a way that is sustainable.”
On May 8, California started the second in a four-stage process of reopening business and public spaces shut down during the COVID-19 crisis on a category-by-category basis. Businesses in industries such as retail, manufacturing, logistics, and others that fit certain safety requirements opened Friday, still maintaining recommendations for wearing masks and gloves, and maintain a social distance of six feet between people.
Now, smaller businesses like salons and barbershops that require closer contact between people — and that have been hit hard in the pocket by coronavirus-related shutdowns — are calling on the California governor, state legislature and other politicians to allow them to return to work.
The Black Small Business Association of California (BSBA) wrote letters to Sacramento Mayor Darryl Steinberg and Gov. Gavin Newsom urging them to consider allowing barbers and cosmetologists to safely resume their business.
“While we understand the need to prioritize public health and safety during this unprecedented crisis, the economic devastation of this moment cannot be overstated,” the letter read. “This loss of income is compounded by the limits of California’s safety-net services and has left too many barbers and cosmetologists without assistance during this difficult time.”
The BSBA claimed that many of the protections federal and state officials promised to small businesses did not reach barbers and cosmetologists.
“For example, many of these individuals have applied for Unemployment Insurance, but were denied,” the letter read. “Others applied for the federal Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans through the Small Business Administration and were denied access to these funds as well. In addition, few if any have received access to information about local emergency funding options when these funds have been made available.”
In addition to those letters, the BSBA, along with the Mixed Cosmetology School, several barbers and cosmetologists wrote safety guidelines to serve as a model for how these specific businesses could begin reopening sooner rather than later.
Those guidelines include the implementation of personal protective gear, mandatory temperature checks, symptom questionnaires, and extensive disinfection.
Lorenzo Griffin, CEO of Laran Products. Lorenzo is highly instrumental in distributing exclusive hair products to hair salons and barbershops (Facebook photo)
Robert Brown, a barber at Another Look Hair Salon in Sacramento, highlighted some of the unique issues facing barbers and beauticians during the pandemic.
“Many African American owned salons didn’t qualify for the PPP loan because we rent booths to our stylists and barbers,” Brown said. “We didn’t have the payroll numbers to give banks to qualify.”
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a federal government stimulus loan program under the CARES act that provides cash to small businesses to cover payroll. The federal government forgives the loan if 75% of it is used to keep employees hired.
California joins several other states in reopening businesses after months of closures in the midst of this pandemic. But due to the size of the state, Gov. Newsom says, the reopening process has been based on the needs of different counties.
Kathryn Barger, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, detailed how Los Angeles County will cooperate with the governor’s reopening plan.
“[Los Angeles] County is in conversations with our state partners and wants to ensure any restrictions we ease are in the best interest of the health of all of our residents,” Barger said. “What’s best for other counties may not necessarily be right for Los Angeles County as we are the most densely populated county in the state, our guidelines will certainly look different than others.”
Dave Charles Presley Jr., a Rialto resident, and barber for 28 years had to move out of his apartment due to all of the revenue he has lost since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
“It’s been an absolute nightmare,” Presley said. “I’m looking at all of these politicians with these fresh haircuts, yet our businesses are suffering. I know they didn’t cut that themselves.”
Presley also claims that he has waited for over a month to receive the unemployment benefits that he applied for after the governor issued his stay-at-home order.
Lorenzo Griffin, CEO of Laran Products, has been trying to help barbers like Presley as Laran Products only sells their merchandise directly to salons and barbershops.
“The beauty industry, the barbershops, and the beauty salons is the second-largest social institution in Black America, second only to the church,” Griffin said. “It’s vital that we open but it is absolutely vital that we stay safe when we open.”
Some have expressed concern about Black people returning to certain jobs during this reopening process. Dr. Melva Thompson-Robinson, Executive Director of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Center for Health Disparities Research, spoke about the many challenges Black people have been facing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For the African American community, this has been something that has been centuries in the making in terms of the inequality and the racism that African Americans, in particular, have experienced,” Thompson-Robinson said. “As far as the African American community, they are often working in positions where they’d be considered essential workers. Not just as a doctor or nurse, but they are part of the janitorial staff or other essential staff.”
Thompson-Robinson also expressed her concern about the inherent racial bias in the medical community and explained how African Americans can combat that bias without coming across as hostile.
“You can advocate for yourself by having someone who can go with you, who can advocate on your behalf, or if you can’t have someone go with you, have someone put together a list of questions that have to be answered by the doctors so if you’re there by yourself, your issues and concerns aren’t being overlooked,” Thompson-Robinson said.
Comedy is the best medicine, especially in the times such as this with the Coronavirus pandemic. Comedian and actor, David A. Arnold’s, stand-up, Fat Ballerina, couldn’t have been released at an even better time such as this.
A standup comic, actor and writer, David A. Arnold is triple threat in the world of comedy. As a comedian, he has performed all around the country and made various tv appearances. He is known for his ART OF STANDDUP COMEDY (AOSC) master classes.
For 11 years, he has taught the AOSC master classes to hundreds of novice and veteran comedians. The AOSC class covers everything from structuring a joke to finding your comedic voice. Standouts among the many successful AOSC alumni include ABFF Comedy Wings Competition winners Zainab Johnson, Daphnique Springs and Amberia Allen, Tony Baker (Last Comic Standing), actors London Brown (HBO’s BALLERS) and James Davis (Comedy Central’s HOOD ADJACENT) as well as semi-finalist Jackie Fabulous of AMERICA’S GOT TALENT. Currently, AOSC boasts a waiting list of more than 300 people.
I recently interviewed Mr. Arnold where he chatted ore about his Netflix special, endeavors, and what inspired him to get into comedy.
Naomi K. Bonman: For starters, who is David Arnold?
David A. Arnold: David Arnold is someone who’s…it’s David A. Arnold. If you don’t put in the A you’re gonna get the white man that does all the soundtracks to James Bond, which I’m sure everybody will Google and be like ‘Who the hell is this?’, (laughs) he doesn’t look funny at all (laughs). But I’m a David A. Arnold. I’m a stand up comedian and television producer who probably has been making people laugh behind the scenes way longer than they even know. And now with my Netflix special, I’ve gotten a chance to come out and put a face to my comedy and my style of comedy, so with that and with the spark of my social media following, I got a chance to be seen. So I’m this dude who’s finally getting a chance for the world to see what I already I know, which is I’m funny.
Naomi K. Bonman: (laughs): And it’s working, I love it! So speaking of your Netflix special, Fat Ballerina, how does it feel to finally have your special on Netflix and what was the process like to get there?
David A Arnold: It feels great to have a special on Netflix because you finally get a chance to be seen on a world stage and get a chance to share stuff that you’ve been working on. As comedians that we do. We’re working on stuff in hopes to be able to share it on a national stage. and the things that you work on for years sometimes, you’re finally able to see people react to it. It’s kind of dope.
The process was long. I’ve been doing stand-up for 24 years. This was my third special, and my first first one that has been on a platform this large. It was working out; it was working the material out for many years. It was being denied. It was being turned down. It was being passed on and then eventually taking matters into my own hands and self-producing and putting the money up to do it and then getting my friend Kevin Hart to get behind me, and my management jumped on and was like, ‘This is good stuff”. And then with them behind it we took it over to Netflix and they looked at and had to put it up, so it was a process, but the part that I love the most is that I did it myself and I invested in myself because I believed in myself and it paid off.
Naomi K. Bonman: That is dope! We definitely have to invest in ourselves first.
David A. Arnold: Yeah, a lot of people won’t do that. A lot of people think they’re great. But are you great enough to put up 50, 200, 50,000 dollars on your idea if you had it to do so? A lot of people aren’t willing to do that. A lot of people will say that they’re good but that they need their money. You have to really believe. I’ve always been that guy from the beginning. From all of the short films that I wrote, directed and starred in, in 2005, I did a bunch of short films, and all of them I put my own money up and they all won awards at various film festivals around the country. I’ve never had a problem and that’s the one things I’m always going to bet on…David. Because I do the work. So that’s the dope part about it.
Naomi K. Bonman: So I was able to watch a few clips of Fat Ballerina and I definitely loved what I watched so far. So for those who have not tuned in yet, without giving too much away, what can people except from the special?
David A. Arnold: It’s going to take you on a journey through family and relationships, and marriage. It’s a real look at that stuff from my perspective, and I always tell people this set is for grown men who pay the bills. This a’int a set for if you gotta a little boyfriend and ya’ll splitting the rent and some of the stuff might not be for you, but truth of the matter is I do family, I do relationships. It’s all speaking of who I am. It speaks of the pettiness of the person that I am and how I see the world, and it’s actually very smart. I’m very proud of the work that we did.
Naomi K. Bonman: I haven’t gotten to watch the whole thing yet, but I love what I seen so far.
David A. Arnold: It’s doing good! My favorite is when I get people who hit me on social media and are are like, “Oh, my god! I’m only two and half minutes in and I can’t breathe!” (laughs)
Naomi K. Bonman: (laughs) Right…
David A. Arnold: That’s my favorite part; that when people get in and like right off the bat I come out just swinging. I think that to me is the best part. The retention rate on it is very high which is also dope for streaming stuff, so I’m very proud of that.
Naomi K. Bonman: So what inspired you to get into comedy? Have you always wanted to be a comedian or were you just thrown into it?
David A. Arnold: Well, when you graduate from high school with a 1.8, you a’int got too many choices…in life, so I always knew that I loved making people laugh. I was never the class clown, but I’ve always had this thing for storytelling and I feel that was what made me interested in it. Then I saw D.L. Hughley do it in the 90s when I was in the Navy and that’s when I was like, “Oh, I think I can do this. I can tell so many stories.” And that’s the kind of thing that got me into it. So after I got out of the military, I started doing that. I was kind of late in my life of getting started, but that’s when I started doing it and I haven’t looked back since.
Naomi K. Bonman: Awesome! That’s very inspiring. So in addition to comedy, you’re also an actor. You’ve been in The Real Husbands of Hollywood and the House Of Pain, just to name a few. So do you have any TV/Film projects that you’re currently working on as far as acting?
David A. Arnold: Well, I’m developing a show right now with Kevin Hart that’s based off a bit that I did in the stand-up special. I’m also in development for my next stand-up special. We already got a deal for another one, so I’m working on that. And I produce a lot of television. I produce and write. I write House of Payne and Meet the Browns. I wrote a show called Fuller House on Netflix. I wrote season 4 and 5 of that. I also wrote Real Husbands of Hollywood, a show called Zoe Ever After with Brandy. I’ve been writing and producing television for awhile. Before the virus shut us down, I was producing a show for some YouTubers called Jayden and Annie over at Nickelodeon. So I’m up and down the scale from some crazy comedies like Real Husbands of Hollywood to kid’s YouTube, like Jayden and Annie on Nickelodeon, so I’ve done all of it.
But I’m excited to show people the next special and ‘n excited to hopefully be able to get this television show based on my stand-up on the air. That would be kind of dope to get a chance for people to see more of who I am. So, yeah, I’m excited about that.
Naomi K. Bonman: You definitely stay busy and productive! That’s good though.
David A. Arnold: Mhmmmm! Got to feed these kids! (laughs)
Naomi K. Bonman: (laughs): So before the virus, you were headlining the Essence Festival’s comedy segment with Deon Cole, but as we know it got postponed to next year. But do you know if they’ll keep the same line-up? Can we except to see you there in 2021?
David A. Arnold: I don’t know if it’ll be the same line-up, but I love Deon Cole. Deon is a good friend of mine, so anytime that you get a chance to work with your friends is always dope. I don’t know if the line-up will be the same. Hopefully, when the time comes everybody’s schedule’s will line up and I’ll be available to do it. But I was doing that and I was doing TD Jakes’ A Time to Laugh tour that would’ve been starting as well. So it’s a lot of things that got postponed, so right now we’re just trying to get through this period. I’m using this time to do a lot of writing and to do a lot of research on my next stand-up special because that I can’t actually go out and perform and get it ready, but I am collecting information and getting the idea that I’m ready to tackle, so when it is time to go, I can go.
Naomi K. Bonman: So what is one fun fact that most probably do not know about David A. Arnold?
David A. Arnold: That I used to be a registered nurse and I worked as a nurse for many years while I was pursuing my stand-up comedy. I ran a family practice clinic in Culver city across the street from Sony Studios. I would work all day as a nurse, get off work, go to the comedy club and spend all night at the Comedy Store, the Laugh Factory, [and] Impov, trying to hone my stand-up skills until I got to a place where essentially the stand-up and the writing and producing actually started bringing me more work and took too much time that I had to step away from the nursing. So I served in the military then I worked in the medical field for 10 years after that.
Naomi K. Bonman: Interesting. What advice do you have for aspiring comedians, actors or writers that are striving for their big break?
David A. Arnold: Here’s my advice to anybody who’s striving for anything in the arts: One, it’s supposed to be hard; Two, every single obstacle that you encounter is put in the way for one reason, to weed out the weak and the people who don’t have what it takes to stand in there and keep fighting; And three, as long as you continue to strive to be what your voice is or whatever it is that you want to do, if you write, write; if it’s stand-up, do stand-up; if you act, act…You don’t need to wait for nobody. We live in a time in a world where you can shoot it, write it, and present it yourself. If you’re comedian, you can put stuff out there in the world. If you put something out there and there’s something to it, people will respond. 18 months ago I had 1,800 followers, then I decided to start putting my comedic voice on social media, not I have over 700,000 between Facebook and Instagram in literally less than two years. That’s just from me putting yup what I think is funny and people when they think that it’s funny they’re going to tell other people that this guy or girl is funny and that you should go watch them do whatever it is that they do. So that’s my advice, if you say that you want to do it, just do it. And just know that it’s going to be hard and it’s supposed to be.
Naomi K. Bonman: I love that advice! And how can people follow you?
David A. Arnold: On Instagram, it’s @thedavidaarnold or @davidaarnold across the board on Facebook and Twitter. You’ve got to use that ‘A’, if you put in David A. Arnold, you can find me everywhere. But if you don’t put that ‘A’, you’ll get the soundtrack composer from the James Bond movies. (laughs)
Naomi K. Bonman (laughs): Thank you David! And is there anything else you want to leave the people with?
David A. Arnold: If you haven’t seen Fat Ballerina, go to Netflix and check it out. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and please everybody keep your asses at the house so we can get out of here. The more we stay home and do what they tell us to do for a little while, the sooner we can go back out here in the streets and do what we were doing before.
Naomi K. Bonman: Thank you so much David!
David A. Arnold: I appreciate you1 Looking forward to reading and seeing this. Thank you so much!
The Justice Department said Monday that federal prosecutors are weighing possible hate crime charges in the slaying of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man gunned down after being pursued by two armed White men in a Georgia subdivision.
Arbery was fatally shot February 23 by a father and son who told police they chased him because they believed he was a burglar. They were arrested last week, more than two months later, on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault after video of the shooting appeared online.
Georgia has no hate crime law
Attorneys for Arbery’s parents and others, including Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and the Southern Poverty Law Center, have asked for a federal investigation. Georgia has no hate crime law allowing charges at the state level.
“We are assessing all of the evidence to determine whether federal hate crimes charges are appropriate,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a statement Monday.
Previously, a Justice Department spokesman had said the FBI is assisting in the investigation and the department would assist if a federal crime is uncovered.
Feds considering investigating local police
Kupec’s statement Monday also said the Justice Department was considering Carr’s request for federal authorities to investigate how local police and prosecutors handled the case. She said Carr has been asked to “forward to federal authorities any information that he has.”
Gregory McMichael, 64, and his 34-year-old son, Travis McMichael, are jailed on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault in Arbery’s slaying. Gregory McMichael is a former Glynn County police officer who later worked 20 years as an investigator for the local district attorney’s office. He retired a year ago.
The father and son told police they thought Arbery matched the appearance of a burglary suspect who they said had been recorded on a surveillance camera some time before, according to the Glynn County police report filed after the shooting.
Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she thinks her 25-year-old son, a former high school football player, was just jogging in the neighborhood before he was killed.
Man who recorded video not charged
Meanwhile, a man identifying himself as the person who recorded the cellphone video of the shooting said he’s received death threats.
William “Roddie” Bryan is identified as a witness in the police report taken after Arbery’s shooting. He appears to be mentioned in a single sentence of the report, which says Gregory McMichael told an officer that “‘Roddy’ attempted to block (Arbery) which was unsuccessful.”
“I had nothing to do with it. I’m trying to get my life back to normal, and it’s been smeared for the last week,” Bryan told WJAX-TV in an interview that aired Monday.
“I was told I was a witness and I’m not sure what I am, other than receiving a bunch of threats.”
Bryan has not been charged in the case. The TV station reported Bryan would not discuss his involvement in the events that led to Arbery’s death.
Outside prosecutors were appointed to handle the case. But the McMichaels weren’t arrested until last week. After video of the shooting leaked online Tuesday, the lead prosecutor on the case asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look into the shooting. The McMichaels were arrested Thursday.
It was not known Monday whether the McMichaels had attorneys to represent them. They had no lawyers at their first court appearance Friday.
The leaked video shows a Black man running at a jogging pace. The truck is stopped in the road ahead of him, with one of the White men standing in the pickup’s bed and the other beside the open driver’s side door.
The running man attempts to pass the pickup on the passenger side, moving just beyond the truck, briefly outside the camera’s view. A gunshot sounds, and the video shows the running man grappling with a man over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle. A second shot can be heard, and the running man can be seen punching the other man. A third shot is fired at point-blank range. The running man staggers a few feet and falls face down.
This photo combo of images taken Thursday, May 7, 2020, and provided by the Glynn County Detention Center, in Georgia, show Gregory McMichael, left, and his son Travis McMichael. The two have been charged with murder in the February shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, whom they had pursued in a truck after spotting him running in their neighborhood. (Glynn County Detention Center via AP)
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