WSSN Stories

By Lou Yeboah

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK—ENN)— “What you’ve done to me is already done back to you….Celie: [holding a knife to Albert’s throat] I curse you. Until you do right by me; everything you think about is gonna crumble! [Sofia]: Don’t do it Miss Celie. Don’t trade places with what I been through. [Shug]: Come on Miss Celie let’s go to the car. [Sofia]: He ain’t worth it, he ain’t worth it. [Albert]: Who you think you is? You can’t curse nobody… [Celie]: Until you do right by me, everything you even think about gonna fail! The jail you planned for me is the one you gonna rot in! Time for me to get away from you, and enter into Creation. And your dead body’d be just the welcome mat I need. [Grady]: It’s been a pleasure meeting all of you. Good-bye.”

“You reap what you sow” is a well-known idiom, but this principle is also Biblical. The Lord gives principles in Scripture to serve as warnings and as an encouragement. In [Galatians 6:7], His Word states, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” The principle applies to everyone, both Christians and non-Christians. This principle is irrevocable; there is no escape, either for the believer or for the unbeliever. It is a law of life. But herein lies the root cause of the careless and indulgent lifestyle of many people. They are deceived. They either do not believe the truth, or they think they will somehow be the exceptions to God’s laws. But as [2 Corinthians 5:10] reveals: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

The fact that we reap what we sow is good news for those who sow good habits, but a frightening thought for those currently involved in ungodly activities such as promiscuity, drug and alcohol abuse, neglect of family, or mistreatment of others in order to climb the ladder of success. We cannot sow crabgrass and expect to reap pineapples. We cannot sow disobedience to God and expect to reap His blessing. What we sow, we reap. Let us not deceive ourselves: We will reap the harvest of our lives.

I don’t know who this is for, but spitting out a bunch of hostile, angry, mean, resentful words at someone is not going to help. It is not going to make you a better person, it is not going to make them a better person, and it won’t improve your relationship. Just because you feel something doesn’t mean you have to say it. And you don’t have to let your feelings control your actions. Much of living the Christian life comes down to how well we get along with other people. Scripture makes it plain that God places tremendous value on unity.

As you go through life you’re going to find some people who simply rub you the wrong way. Maybe they don’t do anything specific—but there’s something about them that gets under your skin. Also, there will be times when you find that you rub someone else the wrong way. You might not have anything against this person, but they’ve got something against you. No matter how hard you try, they’ve decided in advance not to like you. I tell you, take the high road. Your actions are more important than your feelings. Sometimes you have to cover your feelings by “putting on” the right behavior. Your feelings may be sending you in one direction emotionally, but you can clothe yourself with attitudes and behavior that move you in the right direction. Paul said, “Put on compassion…put on kindness…put on gentleness.” You may not feel these things, but you can “put them on”—at least temporarily. Some people say, “That seems hypocritical,” but it’s not. If you feel dislike for another person, and you show them kindness, you’re not being hypocritical, you’re being holy! Besides, the Bible never tells us that we will be judged according to our feelings. It says again and again we are judged according to our actions. You can’t always control the way you feel, but you can control the way you dress. So, dress for success! Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. When you deal with conflict you put your feelings aside and you put a layer of holiness between you and the other person.

As [Matthew 7:12] says, “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” It is written in Proverbs to “ponder the path of your feet, and … remove your foot from evil.” [Proverbs 4:26-27].  We need to think about our choices and what the consequences of our choices are. They can lead to corruption, or to eternal life. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

Everything in life goes exactly according to what is written in God’s Word. There are no exceptions. This is a law of life that affects everyone, whether a believer or a non-believer.

As [Celie] said: Dis life be ova soon. Heaven last always.

The Color Purple – a film based on Alice Walker’s novel, directed by Steven Spielberg

Photos By John Coleman

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK—ENN)— RIVERSIDE, CA— For more than a week it already had been raining, sometimes quite heavily.  San Bernardino’s annual Black History AND Culture Parade, traditionally scheduled for the first Saturday in BLACK HISTORY & CULTURE Month–FEBRUARY   had been washed, even ‘flooded’ out.  And on this Riverside ‘Parade Day’  puffed-up, dark clouds were crawling down area mountain sides. And it was raining.

Questions asked: What to do? Who to ask? Is the parade still on? Even in the rain?

Dell Roberts answered, “This is Riverside! A little rain doesn’t stop us!”

The clouds above the 10 Freeway appeared to thin as we approached Downtown and a patch of blue let sun through to illuminate the  off-ramps.  The corner where i parked was flooded into mid street;  but the rain had stopped.

By Naomi K. Bonman

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK—ENN)— March is Women’s History Month. Women have been making strides for decades now and we continue to make our mark in the community through leadership and service. Local McDonald’s franchises, Kiana Webb is one of those woman who is worth looking up to. She is a true inspiration in our community. 

Ms. Webb, daughter of the local, iconic entrepreneurial legend, Reggie Webb, is a five-restaurant franchisee and is the President of Webb Family Enterprises, which operates a total of 16 McDonald’s restaurants. The company also invests in business incubation opportunities for young entrepreneurs of color. 

Kiana’s passion within the McDonald’s system is people and creating an environment where everyone who enters feels special and appreciated. I chatted with her more on her passion for the community in a recent interview. Listen below:

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW

By Lou Yeboah

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK—ENN)— People ain’t got a Heaven or a Hell to put you in, but God does…. Don’t you be worrying about what people think; you best do what God told you to do! The fact that people can make opinions does not give them the right to dictate someone else’ life. I want you to know that Jesus became so powerful every time people raise opinion about Him. He was always a step ahead of them. Yet He remains whom He was made to be. You must know who you are or what God has made you to be irrespective of human opinion. If you don’t know who you are that is where you will allow the opinion of others to rule and control you.

Listen, “They said I wouldn’t make it, they said I wouldn’t be here today, they said I never amount to anything, but I’m glad to say, that I’m on my way, and I’m going more and more each day. There were many that started out with me, but now, they’ve gone astray, but I’m still holding on to his hand. You see when I was young, I gave God my hand, and I told him to lead the way, though the road has been rough, and the goings been mighty tough, still I ain’t going nowhere, I’m right here to stay. Though I’ve been talked about, and oh I’ve been criticized, I had to wipe many tears from my eyes, but I’m still holding on to his hand. Yes I’m still in God’s holy plan, and I’m bound for the promise land, I will never let go of His hand. I’m still holding on…” [Songwriters: Luther Lee Barnes – I’m Still Holding On lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Memory Lane Music Group – Domestic]

I say to you, stop worrying about what others think and set your mind on Christ. And, do the work God has called you to do, because when this life is over you will have to give an account to God and Him alone. And no excuses will be accepted. You want be able to say, well “they” said….. Forget about it!  It’s time to regroup, refocus, and rise above petty people, things, sin, and caring what others think of you. They don’t know your back story, but Christ does. Worrying about what others think is human, but when it’s to a point where you got to choose between pleasing man or pleasing God, you best want to please God….. As Moses said, “If you fully obey the Lord your God… you will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country, the fruit of your womb will be blessed and the crops of your land… If you do not obey the Lord your God… you will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. Your basket and kneading trough will be cursed…” [Deuteronomy 28]

I know that we all want approval—caring what other people think seems evitable. Through the years it can become a problem for us as it can cripple us emotionally and spiritually. We need to get to the point where we don’t care what no one says, how they feel about us, or live in state of constant fear or agony of what others think. Live out Loud: Live your life as God created you in Christ to live. Determine you will obey God no matter what.

As Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” [Acts 4:19-20]

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” [Philippians. 3:13-14].

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK—ENN)— SAN BERNARDINO, CA— The San Bernardino Pastors United (SBPU) will be having another Community Block party on March 23, 2019 at Norton Elementary School located at 747 Mountain View Ave, San Bernardino.  The Pastors of San Bernardino continue to show a united front. The pastors believe as spiritual leaders they must show love, and demonstrate helping thy neighbor, and being there for one another. The Churches of San Bernardino will take a stand together in a united front to love on the community. Our goal is to freely give, and spread the good news to the community.   

At the event, there will be free food, free groceries, free shoes, free backpacks for kids, free clothes and free health checks, job resources. There will be a life-saving message by Pastor Joe Ybarbo, Way World Outreach Arrowhead Campus Pastor. Please register by phone, or website www.sbpastorsunited.org to register. We are expecting thousands to attend the event try to register.  We are asking the community to join us as the San Bernardino Pastors bring:  “Healing, Change, and Progress” to the City of San Bernardino, for more information call 909-353-7977 or The Way at 909-884-1385 email sbpastorsunited@gmail.com. Thank you. Pass the Word!

Hosted By SoCal Black Chamber/SBVC Black Faculty & Staff

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK—ENN)— SAN BERNARDINO, CA— Saxophonist Mark Allen Felton was impressing folks with his smooth sax sounds before he was in high school. On Friday, March 29 you will be able to share his smooth sax sound, as Mark Anthony Felton, affectionately known as ‘Panther’, brings his horn and talented band to the San Bernardino Valley College Auditorium.

Felton is an accomplished and celebrated saxophonist who has delivered with four well received albums. His fifth album, ‘Soul Real’, is dropping later this month… So those in attendance on March 29th will be treated to an exclusive debut.

Felton points out that this release is different than previous recordings and enthusiastically predicts that fans and soon-to-be fans will love it.

Mark says, “This one is a little more upbeat… And funkier than the last record.”

And though Felton says he really digs the funk. He also says and demonstrates that he loves performing jazz, gospel and obviously soul music.

His ‘hipstrumentals’, as he calls them are sure to hit your senses in all the right places. And many can bear witness.

During his career Felton has played with some of the greats including Grammy Award winner Patti Labelle, the late great Al Jarreau, Bobby Womack, Kirk Whalum to name a few.

On Friday, March 29th, Felton will be performing music from his latest release live in a concert event sponsored by the Southern California Black Chamber of Commerce, Inland Cities East and the San Bernardino Valley College Black Faculty and Staff Association. Included in the night’s festivities is a cocktail social from 6:00pm – 6:45 p.m. and the concert main event from 7:00 – 9:30. During the night there will be door prizes, giveaways, and, of course, Mark Allen Felton.

To purchase tickets visit: blackchamberofcommerce.org

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK—ENN)— SACRAMENTO, CA— Assemblymember Marc Levine (D – Marin County) today named non-profit leader Socorro Romo as the California State Assembly’s Woman of the Year for Marin and southern Sonoma counties.

Romo was born in Jalisco, Mexico and moved to the United States in 1980, where she began her family in West Marin. Romo’s children attended West Marin School in Point Reyes Station and went on to attend local universities in the North Bay.

In 1990, Romo began a volunteer job at West Marin School after noticing a lack of Latino leaders in the community and the need to build bridges between immigrant and non-immigrant residents in Marin County. Motivated by her work, Romo went back to school to complete her higher education.

In 1993, Romo began working as a social worker and in 2009, joined West Marin Community Services (WMCS) where she has had the opportunity to work with some of the most marginalized in society. In 2014, Romo co-developed Abriendo Caminos, a project to increase Latino civic engagement, build leadership and find pathways to promote mutual respect, embrace diversity and promote equality for all people. In the summer of 2018, Romo became the Executive Director of WMCS and is the first Latina to lead the organization.

“Socorro Romo is a bright light in Marin County, giving inspiration and hope to people in our community and throughout the North Bay,” said Assemblymember Levine.  “I am pleased to honor Ms. Romo for her commitment and dedication to help residents maximize their potential, to build a strong and diverse workforce and to improve the lives of residents throughout the region.”

The Woman of the Year event was created in 1987 to recognize March as Women’s History Month and to individually celebrate the contributions and unique accomplishments of women in each of the Assembly’s 80 districts.

The 2019 Woman of the Year event took place in the Assembly Chambers of the State Capitol on Monday, March 4, 2019.

Assemblymember Marc Levine represents California’s 10^th Assembly District, which includes Marin and southern Sonoma Counties. Connect with Assemblymember Levine on social media: @AsmMarcLevine.

By Lou Yeboah

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK—ENN)— Talking ‘bout you chasing that paper…. Fool, don’t you know that Jesus warned, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” [Luke 12:15]. If you going to chase anything….. You best chase God…. For He alone can only satisfy. Everything here on earth is vain. If you don’t believe me believe the wisest man endowed by God: King Solomon. Not only was he given wisdom, but wealth beyond measure. The combination along with the experiments of life, lead to his conclusion; All is vanity [Ecclesiastes 1:1-2; 13-17]. He tells us, “I tried everything. I sought ever pleasure. I gained great knowledge. I possessed unsurpassed wealth and power. I had the power and resources to do anything I wanted to do.” Yet, in spite of all that, he declares, “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher [King Solomon] all is vanity! What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun goes down and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits, the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.  

King Solomon was fabulously wealthy. And yet, he says in Ecclesiastes 5: 10-12…. All his riches and all his possessions nothing withstanding. It’s a chasing after the wind. A life lived under the sun, seeking satisfaction when this is all there is, is such an empty thing.”

Paul puts it similarly in 1 Timothy 6:10… the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. “But those who chase riches are constantly falling into temptation and snares. They are regularly caught by their own stupid and harmful desires, dragged down and pulled under into ruin and destruction. For the love of money – and what it can buy – is the root of all sorts of evil. Some already have wandered away from the true faith because they craved what it had to offer; but when reaching the prize, they found their hands and hearts pierced with many sorrows. Don’t let this happen to you – run away from these things! Let your quest be for justice, godliness, faithfulness, love, perseverance, and gentleness…. [1 Timothy 6:9-11]

The Take Away – Don’t put money before God. God is your Father, and He will always provide for you. Money is just a tool. Chasing after money will only result in disappointment. Chasing after God will result in blessing and increase.

Chasing God, Not Money!

Why God had me to go this route, I don’t know…. but as the spirit gives utterance so shall it be!

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK—ENN)— Compton NAACP President Paulette Simpson Gipson continues to make black history, as well as history as a woman. Gipson was sworn in to another term as president on February 16 at the Compton Airport.

A decade ago Gipson made history as the first woman elected to lead the Compton NAACP and has done an excellent job while in office. The reality is when you hear the NAACP name mentioned locally it’s often because of Gipson, who continues to be a consistent civil rights leader in our community. 

Her leadership in the NAACP is especially critical at a time when the LA NAACP has been dormant and useless to our community for the past two years. This wasn’t always the case. 

For news tips, email Brothernajeeali@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter@Najeeali.

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK—ENN)— Over a century after her death, a Harriet Tubman biopic is finally scheduled for release in the fall of 2019.

The biographical movie, Harriet, will focus on the freedom fighter’s escape from slavery in 1849 and her heroic efforts to free hundreds of slaves as a conductor on the underground railroad.

While many remember Harriet Tubman as an influential abolitionist speaker and a Union Army scout during the Civil War, these aspects of her life will not appear in detail throughout the film. According to the film’s director, Kasi Lemmons, they made the choice to document the earlier portion of Tubman’s life to provide people with a new perspective on the popular historic figure.

“The images that we see of Harriet Tubman and the way we’re used to thinking of her is of a much older person, but to think what she did when she was a young woman is quite extraordinary,” she told Refinery 29. “That period of her life [is what] we often refer to, [but] we don’t really have a lot of [visuals] from that period, when she was really doing her superwoman thing.”

Cynthia Erivo, a British actress known for her Tony and Grammy award-winning role as Celie in the 2015 Broadway revival of The Color Purple, will be playing the role of Harriet.

According to Lemmons, Cynthia perfectly fit the image she had in her head of how she wants to portray Harriet.

“When I met Cynthia, I already had this picture of who this young woman was: very petite, very powerful and very spiritual, who could sing and who was an incredible mimic, and who had to be an incredible actress,” Lemmons said. “All of a sudden, I’m looking at this woman that is all of these things.”

While other actresses have played tribute to the historic figure in productions such as WGN’S Underground and NBC’s Timeless, Cynthia will be the first actress to represent Harriet Tubman in a biopic about her life.