WSSN Stories

By Tanu Henry | California Black Media

The California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) announced March 10 that it has introduced legislation to repeal proposition 209.

The bill is called ACA 5 or the California Act for Economic Prosperity.

“Since becoming law in 1996, Proposition 209 has cost women-and-minority-owned businesses $1.1 billion each year,” said Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), who is chair of the CLBC.

“It has perpetuated a wage gap where women make 80 cents on every dollar made by men and has allowed discriminatory hiring and contracting processes to continue unhindered,” Weber continued.

Weber announced the bill at the California state Capitol flanked by members of the CLBC, the  California Legislative Women’s Caucus, other progressive lawmakers, as well as  supporters like Asian Americans Advancing Justice.

In 1996, after a heated public debate divided Californians who supported Proposition 209 and those who opposed it, voters passed the ballot initiative.

Also known as the California Civil Rights Initiative, Prop 209 outlawed the consideration of race and gender in hiring, awarding state contracts, college admissions, policymaking, and even in most forms of official state documentation.

The entire CLBC co-authored ACA 5. And supporters range from churches and civil rights organizations to community based organizations, labor unions and legal aid providers.

Besides Weber, other members of the CLBC are: Senators Steven Bradford (D-Los Angeles) and Holly J. Mitchell (D-Los Angeles); and Assemblymembers Autumn Burke (D-South Bay, Los Angeles), Jim Cooper (D-Sacramento), Mike Gipson (D-Carson), Chris R. Holden (D-Pasadena), Reginald Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), Sydney Kamlager (D-Los Angeles), and Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento). 

By Lou Yeboah

Why are you surprise about the disasters, famines, pestilences [Coronavirus Disease], and the increasing earthquakes? Why are you surprise? Didn’t I tell you; “Before I winked at ignorance, BUT NOW I command all men to repent.” What part of that did you not understand?  You have provoked my anger! Yes, I’ve had enough of your blatantly disregard for Me. I’m fed up and if you don’t repent, I tell you, you ain’t seen nothing yet! [Amos 7:1-9]. “I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth. I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, and the rubble with the wicked. Yes, I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth, make no mistake about it,” declares the Lord. [Zephaniah 1:2-3].

The Warnings has been issued. The Alarm has been sounded! [Hebrews 10:26-31]. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire. Listen, anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

Hear what the Lord says; This I have against you, that you have left your First Love. Repent and return unto Me. If you do not, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place. [Revelation 2: 4-5]. What a solemn warning. I want you to know that God did not try to reform the descendants of Cain that had no time for Him. He rejected them and ultimately destroyed them in the flood. His complaint of His people was that they failed to give Him the honor and the respect He deserved. They treated Him with contempt and no longer held Him in awe. In their eyes He was no different than they were; and because of that, they were destroyed. God says, “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My respect?” [Malachi 1:6].  “I have had enough of disobedience and hard hearts. I am ready to render my verdict, sentence and punish. [Read the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel].

Listen, God has conveyed the same message over, and over, and, over again, that He is more than fit to be tied of disobedience and harden hearts and that He’s ready to render His verdict, sentence, people for their rebellious spirit and actions. Don’t take God’s grace for granted. Don’t let the Devil rob you out of the riches of the Lord because of a lack of knowledge. What is the “knowledge” that Israel lacked that led to their oft destruction? It was the fear of the Lord. Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them, for the ways of the Lord is right. [Hosea 14:9].

“When I shut up the heavens that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” [2 Chronicles 7:13-14]

“But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant, I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed [a]in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will beset My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you.  ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit. Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate. And if by these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins. And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back your bread by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied. And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you.” [Leviticus 26].

But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. [John 16:4]

By Mark Hedin

In a February 12 Capitol Hill hearing that stretched more than three hours, Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham updated the 2020 effort and fielded questions from the House of Representatives’ Oversight and Reform Committee.

His long-scheduled appearance coincided with the nonpartisan Government Accounting Office releasing its latest report on census preparations and what needed action according to its recommendations previously agreed upon by the Census Bureau. Overall, it said, deemed Census Bureau readiness for 2020 operations is “mixed.”

Topping the concerns at the hearing was the finding that the Census Bureau is behind on its hiring goals. About a half-million people will be needed to help get a full count, and for each position, Dillingham said, he would like to have six applicants. But 202 of the bureau’s 248 regional offices are still understaffed, with the first of five mailings targeting 95 percent of U.S. households due to be sent out in less than a month.

Dillingham said he believes concerns about the rate of hiring are premature. He expects to be fully staffed by April when the people knocking on doors to get questionnaire responses from households that haven’t responded either online or by telephone will be needed.

Citing the low unemployment rate as a challenge, he promised, “We will continue to recruit all through the census.” Besides, he said, “20 million college students are out there with student loans and needing money.”

Also of concern to committee members was the report’s description of the Census Bureau falling behind on forming partnerships with the community organizations, businesses and nonprofits that will be crucial in educating the public and maximizing survey response rates, particularly among hard-to-count populations.

Fraud and cybersecurity form the other key concern in the GAO report.

California Rep. Katie Porter entered into the hearing record a fund-raising mailing from the Republican National Committee that gives every appearance of being the census questionnaire.

Porter said the RNC sent a similar mailing in 2010, that led to legislation outlawing such misrepresentations.

Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney, of New York, called the RNC mailing “outrageous” and vowed to revisit that legislation and add enforcement mechanisms to it.

“Clearly, people are violating that,” Maloney said, looking at the mailing both Porter and California Rep. Jimmy Gomez had brought to the hearing. “The census is one of the sacred things in our Constitution.”

The adequacy of the Census Bureau’s preparations for prioritizing online responses also came up. Echoing his reassurances about the pace of hiring, Dillingham said that other targets the Census Bureau hasn’t met had been set higher than he expected would be necessary.

Although the Census Bureau decided on Feb. 7 to change the computer system it will use for online responses, Dillingham said it’s being set up to accommodate up to 600,000 users at once. But realistically, said his deputy, Al Fontenot, traffic at any one time is likely to be perhaps only a third of that.

Many committee members worried that their constituents lack adequate access to computers to ensure they’ll be counted. Dillingham and Fontenot described various plans, such as working with community libraries, but Michigan Rep. Brenda Lawrence pointed out that some libraries in her district have limited hours.

Missouri Rep. Lacy Clay noted historic census undercounts of African Americans — 718,000 people in 2010, he said — and noted the Census Bureau itself estimates that 60% plan to wait until someone visits their home before they’ll respond to the census.

Clay asked what outreach the bureau is planning, and specifically if it includes weekly newspapers and radio. Fontenot said a black advertising agency has partnered with the census’ primary advertising firm, Young & Rubicam, to help in communication efforts.

Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib complained about the reversal of the Census Bureau’s decision after 2010 to add “Middle Eastern/North African” as an option for the final question on the census questionnaire, about ethnicity. If, instead, people of that ethnicity have to identify themselves as white, she said, it will affect health research, language assistance, civil rights, minority businesses’ ability to get loans and more.

Writing in an identity, “doesn’t have the same impact and you know that. You’re making us invisible. You’re erasing us,” Tlaib said.

California Rep. Harley Rouda, whose Orange County district includes “Little Saigon,” home to the country’s largest Vietnamese population, including many refugees, asked how the census will enumerate those with limited or no English language skills.

Besides the census questionnaire being printed in English and Spanish, online forms are in 12 languages and, Fontenot said, materials including instructional videos total almost 60. But, he said, the primary way the census plans to meet people’s language challenges is by hiring partnership specialists with language fluency.

“We do count on our partners for language assistance,” Dillingham said.

New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland shared an estimate that for every 1% of New Mexico’s population not counted in the census, the state loses $600 million of federal funding per decade. That’s money badly needed for “schools, health care programs, roads, so many other services,” particularly for Hispanic, Native and other communities of people of color, she said.

Unemployment is relatively high among the Spanish- and Navajo-speaking people Haaland represents, yet job applicants from her district have waited weeks to hear back from the census, she said.

“I know what it means for people to open the door and see someone who looks like them,” she said.

Dillingham said the bureau has boosted pay rates in response to unemployment and cost-of-living considerations in different communities. Fontenot cited the approval just last week of a $2 million budget for local advertising in “low-count areas.”

“If there’s more recruitment needed, we will make those efforts,” Dillingham said.

By Lue Dowdy

Child actor Michael Eshaun York is What it Do! This week ya’ girl is highlighting a young rising star. I love seeing the youth moving in a positive way, especially when it comes to going after their dreams. 

From his beautiful big, wild fro’, fly gear, and cute personality, I was immediately drawn to Michael; a humble kid with a bright spirit. Tapping into the industry is no easy task but he’s doing it with a great support team.

I look forward to seeing more of Michael in the near future. Please do me a favor and checkout his biography below. Make sure to follow him on all social media networks. Until next time folks!

Michael Eshaun York was born in Colton, California in 2010 and began acting in early 2014 at the of age 3 when he accompanied Fatimah Hassan on a Luv’s Diaper Commercial portraying her stage son.

He began taking Martial Arts (Tae Kwon Do) classes in 2015 at age 4. In 2016, at age 5, he begin taking Hip Hop Dance Classes with “Young Champions Dance America”, and also acting classes with actress/acting coach, Betty A. Bridges, whose list of clients (soon to become stars) included her oldest child, Jimmy Bridges, her daughter Verda Bridges, her son Todd Bridges , Nia Long (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Love Jones), Regina King (Jerry Maguire), Lamont Bentley (Moesha), and Aaron Meeks (Soul Food).

In January of 2016 by the request of Michael’s Management Company, he was sent to a TV Studio along with three other boys to be interviewed by actress Regina King, Director of the TV show “Scandal”. After meeting with her it was decided it’s time for Michael to take acting classes. After researching who taught Regina King and other successful child actors, it was confirmed Betty A. Bridges actress and acting aoach had a high success rate in the industry with children.

By Aldon Thomas Stiles | California Black Media  

After a tough battle with Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT), former Vice President Joseph Biden sealed the frontrunner position in the race for the Democratic Party U.S. presidential nominee on Super Tuesday. Sanders; however, snatched a few key victories, one of which was California with 29.5 percent of the vote.

So far, Biden has picked up 390 Democratic National Convention delegates compared to Sanders’ 330.

The 2020 presidential primary election took place in California, 13 other states, and one U.S. territory (American Samoa) Tuesday March 3. Voters got the opportunity to back their favorite candidate to challenge President Donald Trump in November’s general election.

With five Democratic candidates remaining, after Mayor Pete Buttigieg dropped out of the race this past Sunday and Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s withdrawal Monday, Super Tuesday was a pivotal moment for presidential hopefuls.

Then, a day after the former U.S. vice president’s big win, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden, his former rival for the nomination.

Over the course of their campaigns, Democratic candidates have relied on several different demographics to help swing votes in their favor. One such demographic is African Americans, and these candidates all had strategies to secure that vote.

Some relied on targeted advertising blitzes. Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bloomberg’s camps all ran campaign advertisements touting relationships with former President Barack Obama.

Meanwhile, Sanders continued to invoke his involvement in the civil rights movement and his relationship with prominent progressive personalities like recording artist Michael Santiago “Killer Mike” Render.

Biden also claimed to have been arrested in South Africa in the 1970s while attempting to meet Nelson Mandela. He has since retracted that claim following evidence to the contrary.

Before Super Tuesday, in the South Carolina primaries this past weekend, Biden led the race with Black voters, clinching 61 percent of the Black vote, according to Washington Post exit polls. Sanders trailed Biden with 15 percent of the Black vote.

On Super Tuesday, Biden secured 72 percent of the Black vote in Alabama, 71 percent in Virginia, 62 percent in North Carolina and 53 percent in Tennessee, according to USA Today.

Bloomberg has had some controversy regarding Black voters resulting from his “stop-and-frisk” policies when he was mayor of New York City and from subsequent statements he made in 2015 defending said policies.

“So one of the unintended consequences is people say, ‘Oh my God, you are arresting kids for marijuana that are all minorities,’” Bloomberg said in his 2015 speech. “Yes, that’s true. Why? Because we put all the cops in minority neighborhoods… Why do we do it? Because that’s where all the crime is.”

Despite this, Bloomberg secured endorsements from several prominent African-American politicians like Assemblymember  Shirley A. Weber, chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus. Some Black members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA), Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) and Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI) endorsed the former New York City mayor as well.

Several high-profile lawmakers, including U.S. House of Representatives Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) — as well as former presidential candidates Buttigieg and Klobuchar — have endorsed Biden.

 Former President Barack Obama also gave Biden his blessing.

Warren only won 12 delegates, placing her last on Super Tuesday behind Bloomberg, who picked up 36. 

Film includes tributes from tennis legend Serena Williams and Olympic Gold Medalist Swin Cash

In recognition of International Women’s Day, Secret Deodorant debuts its latest equal representation campaign, “Not The First,” spotlighting some of the most remarkable women in sports today, while paying tribute to the women who paved the way for their professional success. Starring tennis legend Serena Williams, as well as Olympic Gold Medalist and NBA New Orleans Pelicans executive Swin Cash, Secret’s “Not The First” campaign celebrates the accomplishments of trailblazing women in sports.

Secret invites women to watch “Not The First” here, join the conversation on social media (#NotTheFirst) and share a tribute to a woman who first inspired them to pursue their passion. Secret will also support a group of multicultural female influencers as they share their tributes and make a donation to an organization of their choice that works towards equality for women.

“Secret carries a strong reputation of supporting equal opportunity and representation for women,” said tennis legend Serena Williams. “It is crucial to me that I use my platform to inspire change and support all women, particularly women of color because we are often overlooked and underestimated. I am excited and honored to partner with Secret to inspire a brighter future where women no longer have to be labeled as the ‘First.'”

To further extend the conversation, Secret will release a “Not The First” campaign ad featuring Williams in the March 16 issue of TIME magazine.

Said Olympic Gold Medalist, Swin Cash, “As a woman of color, I understand the difficulties that can arise while trying to make headway in a male-dominated Sports and Media industry. Secret has a history of supporting equal opportunity for women by spotlighting and celebrating our stories, and ‘Not The First’ is no different. I am honored to pay tribute to my role models, inspire honest dialogue and motivate women to keep pushing so they aren’t the last!”

“At Secret, we are proud to continue our commitment to equal representation and to keep working until all women can live in a world where we don’t have to sweat equality,” said Sara Saunders, Associate Brand Director, Secret. “Our ‘Not The First’ partners demonstrate unwavering strength and a relentless approach to empowering women of color. We hope ‘Not The First’ will encourage all women to share their incredible tributes, to help drive change.”

Join the “Not The First” Conversation

• Watch “Not The First” HERE
• Join the conversation and share a “first” tribute on Instagram (@SecretDeodorant) and Twitter (@SecretDeodorant)
• Tag a “first” woman who inspired you
• Follow the conversation: #NotTheFirst #ASNS #IWD

By SixFootah The Poet

I am a mother and a daughter, and I will not be silent because my pain can be someone else’s voice.  The makers of menthol cigarettes have taken my heart, and ripped it out, with no remorse.  They are the creators of a cancer-causing, lung-collapsing, aging-in-a-box of a disease that is a cancer in a stick that caused my mother to get hooked. It’s funny how they say cancer doesn’t kill, all so they can make a dollar bill.  But they created her lover, and since she got in bed with it, her life has been over.

My mother was raised by loving parents in an affluent home. I need you to understand that my mother was not a smoker.  But when she began working at a See’s Candy store in one of Oakland’s wealthiest neighborhoods, she was the first African American manager ever to work there and during their 15-minute breaks, some of the Caucasian women would smoke.  One of them handed her one and it was history, she was addicted.  My mother said that if she had known all about the side effects of smoking and the damage that it can cause she would have never started smoking. She wishes she would have known ahead of time.

My mother raised us in Oakland.  While I was growing up, she tried to quit smoking several times, but she was never successful.  Looking back, we remember she spent so much time smoking that we would have to wait to be around her or figure out another way to breathe. She would go through two packs a day and put the cigarettes before a bill. But little did we know that the menthol in cigarettes makes them easier to start, harder to quit and more damaging.

Thanks to menthol cigarettes, I have been losing my mother a little at a time for years.  My mother became sick on December 26, 2013, spending her life in and out of hospitals and care facilities due to the damage menthol cigarettes had done to her.  Two strokes and two heart attacks, I knew my mother and our lives would never be the same. I spent many nights beside her hospital bed where I cried, all because the tobacco industry lied.

It’s funny that they say tobacco doesn’t kill and it is our freewill, but in my neighborhood I seem to find more marketing toward my kind where it seems like there are 10 times more signs.  The Tobacco Industry has been advertising menthol cigarettes to our community for decades stacking the deck against us, making sure the menthol playing field isn’t level or fair.

I wish my story was unique, but I know it’s not. In California, more than half of African American smokers use menthol cigarettes, but less than one in five Caucasian smokers use them.  That’s not an accident.  The Tobacco Industry has altered people’s way of thinking, that they need menthol cigarettes as a coping mechanism for life.  And it’s why our community bears the greatest mortality due to tobacco.

But I won’t let her story, my story, our story, stay quiet. 

On November 2, 2019, my family and I lost our beloved mother.  She passed away after suffering serious and debilitating health issues from smoking menthol cigarettes for most of her life.  I’ve lost time with my mother, space with my mother, and memories with my mother.

But my mother was a fighter, and because of her, so am I.  With my mother’s blessing, over the past few years I began to educate and speak up for my people. Through my poetry, that I perform throughout my community, including at the Black Repertory Theater in Berkeley, I want people to know what menthol cigarettes have taken from me — my biggest supporter, holidays, birthdays, too many things for me to even count.  All gone. 

But the one thing they can’t take is my voice, and I will continue to use it until no more of our families bear this loss.   To hear more about our story, please visit www.wearenotprofit.org. 

By Jennifer Queen, Resource Fellow, Recreation and Tourism

It has been said that Black history is simply the missing pages of world history. Nothing could be truer. The Triple Nickles African American paratrooper unit left their mark, not only in Black history but, ultimately, in the history of the Army, the Forest Service and our great country.

On Feb. 29, the Triple Nickles will be awarded the Buffalo Soldiers Medal of Valor. The medal was created in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2014 by John Taylor Jr., a veteran and Buffalo Soldiers camp director. It was created to honor African Americans, living and deceased. The medal is presented and housed annually in Washington, D.C., at the African American Civil War Museum.

The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion was a pioneering paratrooper unit of the United States Army. Instated in 1943 during World War II, the unit was given the unprecedented and undeniably dangerous job of jumping into forests that were set on fire by the nation’s enemy at war. The unit was nicknamed the Triple Nickles because of its numerical designation and because 17 of the original 20-member “colored test platoon” came from the 92nd Infantry Division, or Buffalo Division. Hence, the nickname Buffalo Nickles, symbolized by three buffalo nickels joined in a triangle. The unit’s 75-year legacy intersects with USDA Forest Service history in a very special way.

At a time when the Army traditionally relegated Black service members to menial jobs, the Triple Nickles succeeded in becoming the nation’s first Black parachute infantry test platoon, company and battalion.

Major James C. Queen—my grandfather—dedicated his life to fighting forest fires as a 555 paratrooper during the war. While serving, he was stationed at Fort Bragg, Fort Benning and other bases, where he underwent extensive training despite the many forms of discrimination that often hindered Black soldiers from advancing through the ranks. Despite the roadblocks, in 1994 Queen went on to become the first African American inductee into the Ranger Hall of Fame for his leadership during the Korean War.

A Washington, D.C., native, and the son of a secretary and a factory worker, Queen entered the army at the age of 18 with only a high school education. Nicknamed “Big Jim” for his towering 6’5″ height, he enrolled in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, where he earned the rank of junior colonel for Washington, D.C., by the time he graduated high school.

After retiring from the army in 1964, Queen went on to become assistant principal of H.D. Woodson High School in Washington, D.C., and later began writing the history of the first Black airborne company to fight in Korea—the 2nd ranger infantry.

“War Department studies indicated that they didn’t believe Black troops could become paratroopers, Queen said. “Just like they didn’t believe Black soldiers could become airmen…they just didn’t think we could do it.”

My grandfather lived a life colored with dignity, perseverance, love and determination in service to family and country. His body now rests next to my grandmother, Phyllis Queen, in Arlington National Cemetery, where he was buried with full military honors. Major Queen, like innumerable other paratroopers of color, proudly served his country and carried out tremendously dangerous work without the full respect, resources and support given to other troops. Many of their contributions to American infrastructure are still yet to be fully told.

The Triple Nickles was a skilled mix of former university students, top-notch professional athletes and veteran non-commissioned officers. Unlike other divisions of the army, the Triple Nickles did not deploy overseas during World War II. Instead, in 1945, the unit was secretly assigned to a series of firefighting missions in the Pacific Northwest Region. This special assignment, called Operation Firefly, saw the Triple Nickles transferred to Pendleton, Oregon. While there, the unit was trained by the Forest Service to become the first military smokejumpers in U.S. history.

That spring, the Triple Nickles parachuted into U.S. forests to battle wildfires that were set ablaze by incendiary balloons the Japanese were delivering across the Pacific Ocean. The Triple Nickles went on to operate in all the northwestern states. When the battalion was finally deactivated in 1947, their impact was undeniable.

That impact is recognized in the Forest Service Headquarters in Washington, D.C., with a conference room in their name located in the building’s promenade. Photos and descriptions of the men from the first iteration of the company adorn the walls. One paratrooper, the late Richard Williams, whose photo also hangs in the conference room, will be honored this year with a post office named after him in Columbus, Georgia. The commemoration is scheduled for March 18.

Resources:

Smokejumpers: 80 Years of Wildland Firefighting

The US Army’s First, Last and only all Black Rangers by Edward L. Posey

The Ranger Hall of Fame— http://www.nationalrgrassociation.com/ranger-hall-of-fame-1/ 

To learn more about the history of the Triple Nickles:  http://triplenickle.com/history.htm

More about the legendary capture of hill 581: When Men Don’t Panic

By Tanu Henry | California Black Media 

Imagine applying for a job online.

But instead of a hiring manager or some pre-screening software reviewing your application and pushing it along — or eliminating it — based on personal biases or other random criteria a company sets up, a smart computer program that is “agnostic” does the filtering, determining   whether you are a good fit for the job or not.

Relying only on your qualifications and experience, the program does not consider factors like your name, your zip code, social connections or where you went to school in the screening process.

Sounds too futuristic? Well, the future may be right now — at least in California.

On Friday, lawmakers in California introduced SB 1241 or the Talent Equity for Competitive Hiring (TECH) Act. The bill sets a new legal high bar against discrimination in hiring by writing clear guidelines for employers to follow that allow them to modernize their recruiting processes using technological tools that reduce bias, leading to a more diverse workforce.

Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) introduced the legislation in the Senate. Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-South Los Angeles), Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), and Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson (D-Carson) are co-authors.

“California has a growing opportunity gap that leaves many families and communities in our state behind,” said Gonzalez after she introduced the bill in Long Beach along with leaders from community based organizations and social justice groups. “Hiring discrimination plays a significant role in our current inequality. The TECH Act will help ensure access to jobs that offer competitive wages and upward mobility for all our residents.”

The TECH Act states “assessment technologies will be considered in compliance with anti-discrimination rules if: 1) they are pre-tested for bias before being deployed and found not likely to have an adverse impact on the basis of gender, race or ethnicity; 2) outcomes are reviewed annually and show no adverse impact or an improvement of hiring among underrepresented groups; and 3) their use is discontinued if a post-deployment review indicates adverse impact.”

Last September, the California Assembly voted unanimously to pass ACR 125, also known as the Fair Hiring Resolution. ACR 125 was a call to action for the state’s lawmakers to pass legislation that tackles implicit racial and social biases in corporate hiring by creating clear rules of the road for how employers can use these smart technologies.

Five months later, their motion has become a reality.

 “Innovative technologies for hiring and promotion, including artificial intelligence and algorithm-based technologies, have the potential to reduce bias and discrimination in hiring and promotion based on protected characteristics, such as socioeconomic status or status as a formerly incarcerated person,” the resolution read.

“At the same time, these technologies can help employers reach larger and more diverse pools of qualified talent and better identify candidates with the right skills and abilities to succeed,” it went on to make the case for the merits of the legislation.

Jones-Sawyer and Gonzalez introduced the resolution in August last year. It was co-authored by Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles), Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena), and Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Silicon Valley).

“California is one of the most diverse states in the nation. Our diversity is our strength, but corporate executive offices and boardrooms across our state frequently fail to reflect the same diversity,” Jones-Sawyer points out.

  “Just look at San Francisco’s Silicon Valley high tech sector as an example,” he explained.  “Women make up just 36.7 percent of the workforce; 3.3 percent of the workforce is Black; and only 6.6 percent is Hispanic. That’s unacceptable.”

The TECH Act builds on a series of laws California has passed in recent years to fight discrimination in hiring, such as “ban the box” legislation prohibiting employers from asking about an applicant’s criminal history before giving a conditional job offer, according to Jones-Sawyer.

“Frida Polli is a co-founder at Pymetrics, a company that makes neuroscience games using artificial intelligence that are designed to eliminate the biases in hiring the resolution intends to prevent.

“Before we release the technology, we look at the outcomes and audit it. And we go through the audit,” she told California Black Media. “We are giving an objective data point or an objective score for employers. It is mitigating the human biases of employers. All of us are biased. The way a lot of these tools work are customized for each role. We have employees working with each of our clients. It is not a one-size-fits-all solution.”

According to Pymetrics, the company’s AI  tools is based on decades of research and technology developed by the global neuroscience community.

“They are widely considered the gold-standard of neuroscience research, and measure established building blocks of cognitive and emotional functioning, akin to the DNA of cognition and personality,” the company website reads.

Jones-Sawyer says he realizes that there will be kinks to work out in what the law legislates but he hope this technology can be used everywhere, starting with large companies in the state.

“At the beginning we will have to prove the technology,” Jones-Sawyer concedes. “We will have to offer it and hope their some companies are willing to take a chance. If we mandate it, it could sabotage us before we get out of the gate. We will have to be sure there is not government overreach with this.”

California has some of the strongest legal employee protections in the country. But even with the existing state and federal laws that prohibit discrimination in hiring and firing, Black and Latino workers still face significant discrimination in hiring, according to a 2017 Harvard Business Review report.

The study found that employers called back White applicants 36 percent more times than they did Black applicants with identical resumes. For Latinx applicants, that differential was  24 percent. It also found that the standardized tests some employers use to screen potential employees “have been proven to identify qualified candidates, but leads to biased outcomes.”

In another study conducted in 2012, researchers switched the names on women resumes to male names. The swap improved ratings from professors who were reviewing the resumes to select candidates  for STEM research positions.

“This is an amazing, amazing initiative,” says Rhonda Gregory, co-founder of the National Diversity Coalition, a non-profit social justice organization that supports the legislation. “I think it needs to be sooner than later. I’m all for it. For me, this is so compelling. You look at a person’s name or gender or area where they are from and people tend to say “oh no” I don’t want to deal with that.”

LOS ANGELES, CA—- Los Angeles City Councilman President Emeritus Herb Wesson announced the winners of the John Singleton Short Film Competition during a private reception at the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF). In conjunction with PAFF and the city’s embRACE LA initiative, the film competition pays tribute to the critically-acclaimed film director John Singleton. Singleton is known for such classic movies as BOYZ N THE HOOD, POETIC JUSTICE and BABY BOY. For helming BOYZ N THE HOOD, he became the first African American and the youngest person to be nominated for Best Director in 1992.

And the winners are:

• Jennifer J. Scott  and Brandon Hammond – filmmakersof AMARU. 
• Chelsea Hicks and Mitchell Branden Rogers – filmmakers of CONTRABAN.
• Kemiyondo Coutinho and York Walker – filmmakers THE SÉANCE

The three winners were awarded $20,000 each for the production and completion of a live-action narrative short film. Under the leadership of President Emeritus Wesson Jr., theembRACE L.A. is an initiative aimed at unifying Angelenos and empowering communities through a citywide conversation about race and racism, challenging and changing inequities. Launched by Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson and Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell the initiative seeks to foster understanding, healing and growth throughout L.A. 

The winners were announced on Monday, February 17, 2020 during the Pan African Film Festival. (Understandably, in light of the news of the sudden death of co-founder Ja’Net Dubois , the release of the winners for the John Singleton Short Film Competition was delayed.) The private reception was held at the 2020 Lounge (formerly Mexicano Restaurant) | a pop-up lounge at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.