WSSN Stories

Dr. Calvin Mackie, Founder and CEO of STEM NOLA | STEM Global Action, has been named the recipient of Tulane University’s Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The honor was presented at the Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Awards Gala, held at the Audubon Tea Room in New Orleans. The award recognizes individuals whose entrepreneurial efforts have made a significant and lasting impact on their communities.

Dr. Mackie was honored for his trailblazing work in transforming STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education and creating pathways for students in underserved communities. His contributions have been instrumental in bridging the diversity gap in STEM fields and providing young students with the tools and opportunities they need to succeed.

Along with Dr. Mackie, restaurateurs Emily and Alon Shaya were also celebrated at the event as Entrepreneurs of the Year for their innovative contributions to the restaurant industry. The gala, an annual event presented by Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business, celebrated the transformative power of entrepreneurship in New Orleans and beyond.

A Vision to Change Lives

Dr. Mackie, alongside his wife Tracy Mackie, a registered pharmacist, founded STEM NOLA in 2013 with the goal of inspiring young students to pursue STEM careers. Since its inception, STEM NOLA has expanded nationally through STEM Global Action, reaching over 200,000 students across the United States. The organization’s hands-on STEM programs help students develop critical skills, gain confidence, and ignite a passion for learning. In 2024 alone, STEM NOLA engaged 40,961 students in 14 states and 36 cities, offering programs such as STEM Fests, STEM Saturdays, Tech Camps, and the STEM Fellows program.

“We want to make STEM part of every child’s life,” Dr. Mackie said. “Our dream is a future where a million kids engage in STEM every Saturday, after school, and every weekend. These kids will grow up believing they can change the world and become the next generation of innovators, creators, and entrepreneurs.”

Why Dr. Mackie’s Work Matters

Dr. Mackie’s efforts directly address the lack of diversity in STEM fields, especially among underrepresented groups. Through STEM NOLA, students are exposed to high-demand fields such as technology, healthcare, and engineering—industries that offer high-paying, high-growth opportunities. By equipping students with the skills needed to succeed in these fields, STEM NOLA | STEM Global Action helps build a robust pipeline of talent to meet future workforce needs.

Impressive Growth and Impact

• Over 200,000 students engaged since 2013
• 40,961 students engaged in 2024 across 14 states and 36 cities
• STEM NOLA | Global Action provides free and low-cost STEM programs to thousands of families
• Large-scale hands-on programs like STEM Fests and STEM Saturdays bring together students for engaging STEM activities
• Volunteer STEM mentors, including college students and STEM professionals, amplify the organization’s outreach and impact

Breaking Barriers and Building Futures

Dr. Mackie’s leadership is breaking down barriers and creating inclusive programs that are culturally relevant for students of all backgrounds. By introducing STEM to children as young as four, STEM NOLA ensures that STEM education becomes an integral part of their lives. This early exposure lays a strong foundation for future academic and career success.

VIDEO Introduction of Dr. Calvin Mackie 2025 Social Entrepreneur of The Year

Dr. Mackie’s programs challenge the status quo by providing opportunities for those historically underrepresented in STEM fields. His work is empowering students to pursue careers in these high-demand sectors, while transforming the landscape of STEM education.

Looking to the Future

Dr. Mackie envisions a future where millions of students engage in STEM activities every weekend, equipped with the tools to shape their futures and transform the world. Beyond teaching technical skills, his work is about empowering students to dream big and become the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs.

With chronic absenteeism and low performance among students nationwide, a growing number of educators are reshaping the school day — and what it means to be a successful graduate.

By Selen Ozturk

A growing number of educators are reshaping the school day — and what it means to be a successful graduate.

In the face of chronic absenteeism and low performance among students nationwide, these initiatives include a restructuring of yearly credit hours, or Carnegie units — developed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 1906 — to include career goal-based learning, work experience internships and early college classes.

“One of the positive things that came out of the pandemic is that everybody wanted to get back to school … then we saw chronic absenteeism rates reach record levels,” said Louis Freedberg, former editor of EdSource and current executive producer of education reform podcast Sparking Equity, at a Friday, April 4 American Community Media briefing.

“This reinforced that our current learning opportunities are not sufficient for young people to get up every morning and want to go to school,” he added.

In the 2021-22 school year, 29.7% of U.S. students — nearly 14.7 million — were chronically absent, compared with 16% in 2019, before the pandemic; in 2022-2023, 27.9% were chronically absent.

The 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the “nation’s report card”, also saw that for the first time, a third of eighth grade students scored below “basic” in reading levels, being 5 points lower on average compared to 2019; math scores were 8 points lower compared to 2019.

“Keeping kids engaged in school presents a crisis for all forms of education,” said Freedberg. “The notion that we should shoehorn learning into these six-hour daily bites doesn’t work for all kids.”

“Many other skills may be more important for how students succeed in the workplace and in life after they graduate, like critical thinking, being able to work collaboratively or independently, being able to stick with a task,” he continued, adding that many states are now “figuring out how to measure these durable skills.”

In Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, the same Carnegie Foundation that had developed credit hours nearly 120 years ago is now working with the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to create pilot projects testing students’ skills.

Last October, for instance, North Carolina was awarded nearly $4 million from the U.S. Department of Education to pilot a Skills for the Future assessment project.

North Carolina, alongside at least 16 other states, are also outlining these skill goals in “graduate portraits” that are influencing education policies across the country’s school districts.

“This is something that’s definitely picking up steam across the country,” said Freedberg: “What do we want our graduates to leave school with? Not just whether you got A’s or B’s, but broader descriptions of a variety of skills” including networking abilities, communication, cultural competence, civic engagement and conflict navigation.

“When modern public schools were started, Carnegie developed credit units to fuel the workforce. But in order for people to be really good workers, they need to be well-rounded,” said Shalonda Gregory, principal of Metwest High in Oakland, California — a non-traditional school which has implemented this skills-based models through Big Picture Learning (BPL).

BPL, a network of over 140 schools nationwide and over 100 more worldwide, encourages students to learn skills for the careers they want through field internships and mentorships up to two days a week — Tuesdays and Thursdays at Metwest — alongside core curriculum classes the rest of the school week.

Every student entering ninth grade at Metwest creates an Individual Learning Plan with actionable goals not only for “careers or education beyond high school, but also for who the person is that you want to be, how you want to show up in this world,” Gregory explained.

“If a student is really interested in wanting to become an architect, even in

standard classes like English, math and science, for instance, we try to find ways to engage them by connecting the content to that interest … while also helping them find internships with architect firms,” she continued, “so they’re not just graduating with their diploma but career-ready life skills, and some of our students have graduated with their associate’s degree as well.”

One current graduating senior, Johnny, “is really passionate about skateboarding. He’s been interning at a skateboard shop, and in prior years, at auto shops, doing collision repairs and regular fixes,” Gregory explained. “Because of those opportunities he’s going to work at the skateboard shop in May, and work on cars as a side hustle to fuel his future.”

Although Metwest is only 23 years old, its work-based educational approach — also known as Linked Learning — have already spurred similar initiatives across the Oakland Unified School District, including internship programs, pre-college support and a year-long graduate capstone program.

“High school is not the end game,” said Anne Stanton, president of the Linked Learning Alliance (LLA). “In the very recent past, we had a very bifurcated ’50s model where students were sorted into vocational or college tracks … but young people at this period in their lives, as their brains are continuing to develop, can contribute in so many ways, and in our country, we think a lot less of what a 16-year-old can do than we should.”

In California alone, the San Francisco-based LLA is implementing work-based learning initiatives in 80 school districts and 250 schools serving 330,000 youth statewide thanks to $500 million that the state legislature invested in Golden State Pathways, a college and career readiness program.

Across its total 977 school districts, California has approximately 5,496,271 students.

“We’d like to get 600,000 young people in California having these experiences,” said Stanton. “But for young people to apply their academic learning in the real world requires a deeper engagement in that social contract by the employers providing these opportunities.”

“Even school district superintendents often turn over every two years,” she continued. “It’s about who owns this vision of engaging youth. If it’s owned by students, families, communities, employers, you can’t break it down, no matter who the leadership is.

“The core of our work to support young people in the real world requires that it’s never just one teacher or one part of their lives doing it,” she added.

By Ben Jealous

In the Trump era, economic policy often comes with more bluster than strategy. His latest round of tariffs is no exception. Slapped on a broad swath of imported goods without rhyme, reason, or regard for the people who will bear the brunt of the cost – American families and workers – these tariffs are a political stunt masquerading as industrial policy.

Let’s be clear: tariffs can be a tool for economic transformation. But they must be wielded with precision, guided by vision, and paired with bold investments. What Trump is doing is none of that.

His scattershot approach will disturb the ongoing US manufacturing renaissance and raise prices on everything from cars to appliances, hitting working families hardest. The administration’s recently announced 25% tariff on all cars and auto parts not made entirely in the United States could drive up the cost of an average new car by thousands of dollars. And for what? There are no clear signals to industry, no long-term plans for job creation, no environmental guardrails – just chaos and chestthumping.

We’ve seen this movie before. During Trump’s first term, similar tariffs on steel and aluminum were supposed to help revive American manufacturing. And they could have, had he invested in clean, safe, high-tech production and the American supply chain. Instead, Trump opted for pain and scarcity. Less availability of metals had a negative downstream impact on the industries that relied on them. Prices on goods made with metals went up. And American metals makers didn’t have a reason to invest in advanced manufacturing.

American manufacturing actually has been revived since then, but it was the Biden-Harris administration’s Inflation Reduction Act and other initiatives like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that were responsible. The previous administration’s trade policy was also smarter, with narrowly focused tariff increases specifically targeted to China and on sectors critical to the clean energy transition – solar panels, electric vehicles, EV batteries, semiconductors, and yes, steel and aluminum. Ideally, tariffs should be paired with investments in domestic manufacturing, particularly in facilities that are clean, unionized, and ready to meet the climate challenge. And tariffs should send a clear message to competitors that there will be consequences for polluting, relying on forced labor, and other harmful practices.

This is not just about economics; it is about justice. Low-income and working-class communities have borne the brunt of dirty industry and offshored jobs. Reindustrializing America has to be different this time. We need a clean, equitable economy built with and for working families.

And here’s the good news: it is possible. I have seen it. From my time crisscrossing the country opposing NAFTA 30 years ago to my current work with the Sierra Club, I have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with labor leaders, environmental advocates, and frontline communities. We agree more often than not. We want trade policies that lift wages, protect the planet, and rebuild domestic industries – not that rig the game for polluters and drive up prices on already-struggling consumers.

One step in the right direction is for trade agreements and tariffs to address pollution and include carbon border adjustment mechanisms – fees based on the pollution in imported goods exceeding US levels. If your steel pollutes rivers in Mexico or your solar panels are made with coal power in China, you should not get a free pass in the US market. These mechanisms level the playing field, give American manufacturers a reason to go green and become cleaner, and improve conditions for workers and manufacturing communities overseas.

We also need to update agreements like the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement to include rapid-response mechanisms not just for labor abuses, but for environmental violations too. If a country undercuts us by trashing its air and water, we should be able to act quickly.

Trump’s tariffs don’t do any of that. They are about headlines, not outcomes. And we do not have time for empty gestures. The climate crisis is here. American workers are tired of being played. And families across this country cannot afford higher prices with no payoff.

We need a real plan. One that brings together labor and environmentalists, manufacturers and frontline communities. One that builds a new industrial vision—not just for profit, but for people and planet.

The path is clear. What we need now is the courage to walk it.

Ben Jealous is the Executive Director of the Sierra Club and a Professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania.

Congressmember Sydney Kamlager-Dove and Assemblymember Isaac Bryan join BLMLA and Wilson’s family to announce federal and state bills aimed at preventing neglect and lack of accountability in police custody deaths.

LOS ANGELES, CA – On Friday, March 28, Congressmember Sydney Kamlager-Dove stood alongside the family of Wakiesha Wilson and Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles (BLMLA) outside the LAPD Metropolitan Detention Center to mark the ninth anniversary of Wilson’s death. The gathering also served as the platform to announce two new legislative measures aimed at ending systemic neglect and lack of accountability when individuals are harmed or killed while in police custody or behind bars.

Wakiesha Wilson, a 36-year-old Black woman, died in an LAPD jail cell on Easter Sunday, March 27, 2016. She was found hanging in her cell and was pronounced dead at a hospital approximately an hour later. The LAPD ruled her death a suicide, but her family and community activists have long challenged that account, pointing to inconsistencies, procedural failures, and a lack of transparency.

The most glaring breakdown occurred when Wilson’s mother, Lisa Hines, attempted to locate her daughter after she failed to appear for a scheduled court hearing on March 29, 2016. Despite repeated attempts to gather information, it was not until March 30 — nearly 76 hours after Wilson’s death — that an LAPD supervisor directed Hines to call the coroner’s office.

“The person on the other end of the line answered, ‘coroner’s office.’ I was at work. I fell out. Anybody — you call a number, they say coroner’s office. You know what’s at the coroner’s office. A lifeless body. And that was my baby,” Hines recounted through tears. “They didn’t have the courtesy to tell me she wasn’t here no more. They had stolen her from me.”

BLMLA co-founder Melina Abdullah expressed outrage over the incident, highlighting the emotional torment Hines endured. “Nobody should ever have to search for their loved one. No one should ever have to hear a voice on the other end of the line say ‘coroner’s office,'” she said. “When we say Black Lives Matter, we mean that we are reclaiming and demanding our full humanity. So for nine years, we’ve been fighting in the name of Wakiesha Wilson.”

In response to these tragic circumstances, Congressmember Kamlager-Dove announced the reintroduction of the Family Notification Act (HR. 10367), a federal bill aimed at ensuring law enforcement agencies immediately notify families when a loved one is killed, injured, or transferred within the federal prison system.

“As we fight for Wakiesha, in the memory of Waukesha and so many others who have fallen victim to a justice system that is not about justice,” Kamlager-Dove said.  “I am grateful that this is a bipartisan bill. I want to give thanks to Melina Abdullah with Black Lives Matter, and Assemblymember Isaac Bryan at the state level for also joining in this effort. 24 hours is not a lot of time. It is a reasonable amount of time to inform a family member so that folks know where their families are and they can work to make sure that they are treated with dignity.”

At the state level, Assemblymember Isaac Bryan is carrying a companion bill known as Wakiesha’s Law, aimed at addressing similar notification failures within California’s state and local prisons and jails.

Civil rights attorney Carl Douglas, who represented Wilson’s family in a wrongful death lawsuit resulting in a $300,000 settlement in 2020, recalled his first encounter with Hines. “I remember almost nine years ago when Lisa Hines and her sister Sheila came to my office seeking help. These were not just two women in need. These were two warriors dedicated to a cause,” Douglas said. “I am inspired by the dedication that these women have shown, showing up every Tuesday for years — literally — in the name of their loved one. I am heartened that we have courageous politicians like Sydney Kamlager-Dove and Isaac Bryan who are willing to take reasonable steps so that jail and prison authorities can do the very minimum notifying family members within 24 members of a loved one’s death.”

Wilson’s death led to internal LAPD reviews of how staff handles mental health crises, notifies families of deaths, and coordinates with coroner’s officials. However, activists maintain that systemic change is still desperately needed.

The proposed legislation is the latest effort in a nearly decade-long fight for accountability and transparency in cases of in-custody deaths. Advocates argue that it is past time for the law to prioritize basic human dignity over bureaucratic oversight.

Both the Family Notification Act and Wakiesha’s Law aim to ensure that no family endures the same deafening silence and institutional disregard that has defined Wakiesha Wilson’s case.

WisePause Wellness, the nation’s premier menopause and midlife health event, announces its 10th Summit, taking place on Saturday, April 12, 2025, at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles from 9 AM to 6 PM. This full day, milestone event will bring together over 30+ renowned physicians, functional medicine practitioners, and health experts to address the most pressing topics in women’s midlife health, including hormone balance, sleep, gut health, sex, incontinence, and natural therapies for managing symptoms. The keynote for this year’s event is Lavinia Errico, Co-Founder of Equinox Fitness and Founder of MoveJoy.

For the first time ever, WisePause Wellness will introduce its inaugural Menopause Recognition Awards, honoring trailblazers advocating for menopause awareness and education. This year’s distinguished honorees include actor/director Halle Berry, Menopause Advocate; TV personality, Tamsen Fadal, Menopause Trailblazer, and corporate leader CVS Health for their dedication to breaking stigmas and advancing conversations and inclusion around midlife health.

“As we approach our 10th event, it is amazing to see how conversations and awareness about menopause has been incorporated into America’s lexicon since our inception,” says Denise Pines, WisePause Wellness Founder.  “The success of The M Factor film, of which I was an executive producer, really widened the conversation and WisePause Wellness is our opportunity to dive deeper into the issues, complexities, and solutions surrounding menopause.  And, I’m so excited to recognize the women and corporate leaders who are also championing the cause and furthering discussions—there is still a lot of work to be done in this space.”

Adding to the interactive experience, attendees will have the unique opportunity to participate in Table Talks, a feature allowing guests to engage in one-on-one discussions with top experts on a wide range of menopause-related topics during the lunch hour.

In addition to presentations and panel discussions, over 34 exhibitors will be on hand to offer products, community platforms and services designed specifically for mid-life women.

Tickets are available beginning at $99 with a survey submission. Breakfast and lunch will be provided, ensuring a full day of education, empowerment, and community.

Sponsors for WisePause Wellness include Tea Botanics, Alloy, AARP and Toyota.

To secure your spot at this transformative event, visit www.wisepause.com.

On Monday, March 31, 2025, The New York Stock Exchange welcomes Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Project to the podium. To honor the occasion, Wanda Durant, President, O.U.R. Mother’s, Inc., joined by Michael Harris, NYSE Vice Chair, rings the Closing Bell®.

By Antonio? ?Ray? ?Harvey? ?|? ?California? ?Black? ?Media?

To honor Women in Construction Week, Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles), a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 30 in the State Legislature on March 6. This resolution pays tribute to women and highlights their contributions to the building industry.

The measure designates March 2, 2025, to March 8, 2025, as Women in Construction Week in California. It passed 34-0 on the Senate floor.

“Women play an important role in building our communities, yet they remain vastly underrepresented in the construction industry,” Smallwood-Cuevas stated. “This resolution not only recognizes their incredible contributions but also the need to break barriers — like gender discrimination that continues to block women from pursuing construction careers.”

Authored by Assemblymember Liz Ortega (D-San Leandro), another bill, Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR) 28, also recognized women in the construction industry.

The resolution advanced out of the Assembly Committee on Rules with a 10-0 vote.

The weeklong event coincides with the National Association of Women In Construction (NAWIC) celebration that started in 1998 and has grown and expanded every year since.

NAWIC began in 1953 by a group of women to help create a support network for other women in the industry. Women In Construction Week (WIC) raises awareness about the role women play in the male-dominated profession.

The same week in front of the State Capitol, Smallwood, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Assemblymember Josh Hoover (R-Folsom), and Assemblymember Maggie Krell (D-Sacramento), attended a brunch organized by a local chapter of NAWIC.

Two of the guest speakers were Dr. Giovanna Brasfield, CEO of Los Angeles-based Brasfield and Associates; and Jennifer Todd, who serves as President and Founder of LMS General Contractors.

Todd is the youngest Black woman to receive a California’s Contractors State License Board (A) General Engineering license. An advocate for women of different backgrounds, Todd she said she has been a woman in construction for the last 16 years despite going through some trying times.

A graduate of Arizona State University’s’ Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, in 2009 Todd created an apprenticeship training program, A Greener Tomorrow, designed toward the advancement of unemployed and underemployed people of color.

“I always say, ‘I love an industry that doesn’t love me back,’” Todd said. “Being young, female and minority, I am often in spaces where people don’t look like me, they don’t reflect my values, they don’t reflect my experiences, and I so persevere in spite of it all.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 11.2% of the construction workforce across the country are female. Overall, 87.3% of the female construction workers are White, 35.1% are Latinas, 2.1% are Asians, and 6.5% are Black women, the report reveals.

The National Association of Home Builders reported that as of 2022, the states with the largest number of women working in construction were Texas (137,000), California (135,000) and Florida (119,000). The three states alone represent 30% of all women employed in the industry.

Sen. Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) and the California Legislative Women’s Caucus supported Smallwood-Cuevas’ SCR 30 and requested that more energy be poured into bringing awareness to the severe gender gap in the construction field.

“We often talk about the importance of a workforce and workforce development, especially in support of good paying jobs here in the state of California,” Rubio said. “The construction trade are a proven path to a solid career. and we have an ongoing shortage and this is a time for us to do better breaking down the barriers to help the people get into this sector.”

Last week, the Los Angeles Black Workers Center (LABWC) reported that the Black community represents 9% of Los Angeles County’s population and 10% of all new construction apprentices. In 2009, the LABWC started as a project at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Labor Center.

The center’s mission is to expand access to quality jobs, reduce employment discrimination, and enhance companies that employ Black workers through action and unionization.

Black Californians make up only 4.9% of the construction workforce and Black representation on publicly funded projects in the county is much lower, hovering around 3%, the LABWC disclosed.

“Adopting equity provisions in Project Labor Agreements and Community Benefit Agreements are crucial to closing these gaps. Let’s continue to support policies that uplift the next generation of women in the trades,” Smallwood-Cuevas stated.

The California Department of Industrial Relations, and its Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS) provided the second round of Equal Representation in Construction Apprenticeship (ERiCA) grant. It made $13 million available to improve access to training and employment opportunities for women, non-binary, and underserved populations to enter the building and construction trades.

The deadline to apply for the grant was March 12. The first round of the ERiCA grant awarded $25 million for the years 2023-2025. The applicants were from either the DAS Registered Apprenticeship or Pre-Apprenticeship program.

“When it comes to women in construction we’ve have made incredible strides. We see more and more women breaking barriers,” said Kounalakis, whose family owns a high-profile construction and development business. “I believe there is something fundamental in (women’s) psyche, core, you soul that makes you feel differently when you’re involved in building something tangible.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Church World Service today expressed its alarm over the Trump administration’s decision to categorically revoke the humanitarian parole status that granted over 530,000 Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan (“CHNV”) nationals living in the United States protection from deportation and work authorization. The blanket revocations, which are set to go into effect on April 24, will place hundreds of thousands of people at risk of deportation to unsafe conditions, endanger and separate vulnerable families, and create chaos and uncertainty for communities. Today’s decision will also revoke work authorization for these groups, undermining their ability to be full participants in their communities, support local businesses and the economy, and provide for their families.

“Many Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezeulans joined our communities after fleeing brutal repression and violence imposed by gangs or authoritarian governments. .” said Danilo Zak, Director of Policy at Church World Service. “People impacted by today’s decision came here through a lawfully established program to seek protection through a legal pathway. They have helped local economies grow, they have paid taxes, they have embraced the spirit of their communities. This is nothing more than a betrayal of those who believed in the promise of America, and it undermines the future of all of us.”

Under today’s decision, on April 24 CHNV parolees will receive notices to appear in court and will lose their work authorization, unless they have applied for or received another immigration status, such as asylum, lawful permanent residence, or TPS.

Church World Service continues to call on the White House and Congress to reject policies that will separate families, deport those contributing to our communities, and instead return to the spirit of welcome—a proven national security bulwark—that has long-defined the United States.

For more information or to speak with Zak, contact media@cwsglobal.org.

By Craig J. DeLuz |  Special to California Black Media Partners

When California Democrats recently proclaimed their intention to “Make California Affordable Again,” it echoed a familiar refrain that has been heard time and again in the annals of political promises. However, a deeper examination reveals that this pledge may be more about optics than about sincere economic reform. Even more troubling is the historical context that shows a consistent pattern of policy failures rooted in overregulation and market manipulation — a pattern that risks repeating itself.

The notion of affordability in California has been stifled not by external factors but by the very policies enacted by the state’s leaders. Over the years, we have seen an alarming trend: excessive regulations that stifle job creation and create barriers to entry for housing development, driving up costs at every turn. These regulations have restricted the supply of jobs and housing. The idea that a few tweaks can remedy the situation overlooks the entrenched nature of the problem, which is a product of policies intended to protect certain interests rather than serve the broader population.

Consider the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), enacted in 1970, it aimed to safeguard the environment, yet its implementation has inadvertently morphed into a formidable barrier to affordable housing. Critics argue that it has been subverted by NIMBY factions, who wield the law as a bludgeon to obstruct new developments, particularly in affluent neighborhoods. For instance, a 495-unit housing project in San Francisco, which promised to include affordable options, languished in legal purgatory for years due to CEQA litigation and community pushback. Such protracted delays not only inflate development costs but also constrict the housing supply, exacerbating a crisis that leaves countless individuals and families priced out of the very urban centers they aspire to inhabit. The intended protections against environmental degradation have morphed into a tool of exclusion, revealing the paradox wherein efforts to protect the environment can simultaneously deepen the affordability crisis.

California’s requirement for developers of subsidized or public projects to pay “prevailing wages” serves as a prime example of well-intentioned policies leading to adverse outcomes. These wage mandates, which are frequently higher than market rates, inflate construction costs significantly — up to 40%, according to a 2020 study by the California Center for Jobs and the Economy. As a result, the very goal of creating affordable housing becomes increasingly elusive, with developers confronted by skyrocketing expenses that necessitate additional subsidies and, in many cases, project delays. This paradox highlights a broader truth: sometimes, policies that aim to protect workers can inadvertently hinder the very access to housing that those workers need.

Furthermore, financial giveaways, such as the recent proposal for housing subsidies, are not the panacea they are billed to be. While they may offer temporary relief to some, they do little to address the fundamental issues at play. Such measures have often resulted in inflationary effects that counteract any benefits. Essentially, the state rewards poor policy with more of the same, rather than confronting the underlying causes of the crisis.

Price controls also loom large in this discussion. California has flirted with the idea of implementing rent control measures that, while well-intentioned, have historically led to unintended consequences. Rather than stabilizing the market, price controls tend to deter investment in housing. Landlords, facing limitations on how much they can charge, often opt to sell, convert, or simply neglect their properties, further shrinking the available housing stock. 

The past actions of California Democrats have shown that tinkering around the edges — whether through subsidies, price controls, or draconian regulations — will not yield lasting solutions. The proposed reforms bear a striking resemblance to failed strategies of yore. For example, the $20/hr. fast food minimum wage. It was heralded as a savior for fast food workers, by guaranteeing them a “living wage”. In the end, even SEIU (one of the measures lead proponents) had to admit that the end result was lost jobs, fewer work hours and higher prices.

Until there is a genuine shift towards market-oriented solutions that empower rather than restrict, the promise to “Make California Affordable Again” will remain nothing more than a hollow slogan.

Deceptive slogans hide a reality that is too often ignored: that affordability is intrinsically tied to free market principles. Genuine affordability cannot be achieved through coercive policies; it must arise organically from an environment that encourages growth, competition, and innovation. The road ahead for California is fraught with challenges — but the initial step towards authenticity in addressing the affordability crisis is to acknowledge and rectify the mistakes of the past. Anything less will only serve to perpetuate the cycle of failure.

About the Author

Craig J. DeLuz has almost 30 years of experience in public policy and advocacy. He currently hosts a daily news and commentary show called “The RUNDOWN.” You can follow him on X at @CraigDeLuz.

By Sylvia Ghazarian

Every March, we celebrate Women’s History Month—a time to honor the trailblazers who fought for our rights and recognize how far we have come. But it is also a time to take stock of the battles we’re still fighting, and one of the most urgent is the fight for abortion care.

Abortion access isn’t just about healthcare; it’s about power, equality, and dignity. It’s about recognizing that pregnant people—should have the same autonomy, agency, and opportunities as anyone else. Yet, time and time again, legislation is used as a weapon to strip us of our rights, rendering us invisible in the eyes of those who hold power.

When abortion rights are restricted, the effects ripple far beyond the individual. The economic consequences are devastating. Studies have shown that being denied an abortion drastically increases the likelihood of a person living in poverty. The landmark Turnaway Study found that people who were unable to access an abortion were four times more likely to experience financial insecurity, struggle with housing instability, and be trapped in cycles of domestic violence.

This is not just a coincidence—it’s by design. Anti-abortion legislation is not about “life”; it’s about control. It’s about keeping people, especially women and those who can become pregnant, economically vulnerable and dependent. It’s about ensuring that the structures of power remain unchallenged, forcing people to carry pregnancies they cannot afford while denying them the resources to escape poverty.

The hypocrisy is staggering. Many of the same politicians who push for abortion bans are the ones gutting social safety nets—cutting funding for childcare, slashing paid family leave, refusing to raise the minimum wage, and the list goes on. They claim to care about “life” while making it impossible for parents to provide for their children. This is not pro-life; it is anti-equality.

The United States already has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed nations, and the numbers are even more alarming for Black and Indigenous people, who die at three to four times the rate of their white counterparts during childbirth. When states restrict abortion access, they force more people into dangerous pregnancies, increasing these mortality rates even further.

The recent surge of abortion bans and restrictions has created a healthcare crisis. Patients experiencing pregnancy complications—such as miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies—are being turned away from hospitals or left to suffer until their lives are at imminent risk. Doctors fear prosecution for providing necessary care, and pregnant people are treated as legal liabilities rather than human beings.

In a system where half the population can be denied life-saving medical care, how can we claim to value equality?

Women’s History Month exists because, for centuries, women’s contributions were erased, dismissed, or outright stolen. Today, we see that same erasure in real-time when lawmakers craft policies that disregard the needs and realities of half the population.

Look at how abortion laws are written—by men who will never face the consequences of an unwanted pregnancy, let alone a dangerous one. Look at how reproductive healthcare is treated as an afterthought, even though it is central to economic stability, personal freedom, and public health.

Every time a law is passed that strips away abortion access, it is another message that we do not matter. That our health, our futures, our choices are secondary. That we are expected to sacrifice our bodies and our well-being to maintain a system that was never built for us in the first place.

This isn’t just an attack on reproductive rights; it’s an attack on gender equality itself.

Abortion access is not a fringe issue—it is fundamental to equality. If we want a world where women and pregnant people are not just tolerated but truly valued, we must fight for policies that recognize our full humanity.

That means protecting abortion access at every level—through legislation, through the courts, through elections and through supporting each other. It means funding organizations that help people get the care they need, regardless of where they live – organizations like WRRAP. It means holding politicians accountable and refusing to let them silence us.

Women’s History Month is a reminder that progress is not given—it is won. The right to vote, the right to work, the right to own property, the right to make decisions about our own bodies—none of these rights were freely handed to us. They were fought for, tooth and nail, by those who refused to be invisible.

Now, it is our turn. The battle for abortion justice is the battle for equality itself, and we cannot afford to lose.

Sylvia Ghazarian is Executive Director of the Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project (WRRAP), a nonprofit abortion fund that provides urgently needed financial assistance on a national level to those seeking abortion or emergency contraception. She is an active Council member on the California Future of Abortion Council and past Chair of The Commission on the Status of Women.