WSSN Stories

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

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-Highland) want Californians to have a better understanding of the history and culture of California’s Native American people.

At the State Capitol last week, Thurmond joined Ramos, the only Native American serving in the Legislature as the lawmaker announced that he will introduce a bill encouraging school districts to collaborate with local tribes to increase knowledge about California Native Americans in their communities.

Ramos, who is the first American Indian ever to be elected to the Legislature, cited a similar effort being made in Washington State.

“When Washington state revamped its Native American curriculum, it began by initiating a relationship between the tribes and schools. Its state’s curriculum, entitled ‘Since Time Immemorial,’ has made a positive difference for students. We can’t reverse 171 years of falsehood and mythology overnight, but we can start,” Ramos said.

Thurmond said he is excited about the initiative and honored to be working along with Ramos to integrate Native American studies into California public education.

“We have the opportunity right now to counter the actions of those who continue to teach harmful and stereotypical messages and create an environment where all students learn about and benefit from the rich history and culture of California’s first People,” said Thurmond.

Ramos said a deeper understanding of Native American people and their sovereignty would help to get rid of enduring racist stereotypes and misperceptions stuck in the imaginations of some Californians.

Last fall, a teacher in the Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) in Southern California was placed on leave after a student shared a video of her mocking Native Americans while teaching math to students.

In the video, which was shared many times across the internet, the teacher was wearing a headdress made of paper feathers while explaining a math assignment. The student who captured the moment identifies as Native American.

“So few people understand the diversity of California’s first people,” Ramos stated. “They speak different languages, use different musical instruments, practice different customs and traditions. Few know many tribes were wiped out or almost eliminated during the 1800s.”

More than 40,000 students are enrolled in RUSD schools. About 80% of the district’s students identify as Black, Latino or another ethnic minority, and 46% of them are economically disadvantaged, according to U.S News and World Report.

 “These behaviors are completely unacceptable and an offensive depiction of the vast and expansive Native American cultures and practices,” the school district said in a statement. “We are deeply committed to implementing inclusive practices and policies that honor the rich diversity of our district and the greater region. We will be working with our students, families, staff, and community to regain your trust”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over 630,000 people identify as American Indian and Alaska Native in California.

In combination with another race, the number of Native Americans increases to about 1.4 million people. Altogether, they make up 3.6% of all Californians, as compared to 1.9% ten years ago, the 2020 census reported.

Ramos said the legislation he plans to introduce will be the first step toward increasing student knowledge about the indigenous tribes residing in the state.

“We are fine-tuning language in the bill and will introduce it soon,” said Ramos. “If we don’t do a better job at encouraging our schools and tribes to work together, we’ll see more classroom episodes such as the one we saw last October.”

By SUNITA SOHRABJI/EMS Contributing Editor

Vaccines and boosters are essential tools for Black family caregivers, as California battles the rising numbers of Covid-19 infections due to the spread of the Omicron variant.

At a community conversation with ethnic media organized by Saint Paul AME Church in San Bernardino, Black Voice News, and California Black Media, community leaders and Black family caregivers discussed the importance of vaccines in helping keep themselves safe and able to care for their families, especially at a time when Omicron is increasing their sense of fatigue and isolation.

The conversation, which drew over 60 reporters and community members, was also live streamed on social media and cohosted by the California Department of Aging. Cheryl Brown, a member of the state’s Commission on Aging, moderated the discussion.

Speakers asked that family caregivers receive priority for vaccines, boosters, test appointments and home-testing kits, and personal protective equipment.

Family caregivers have not been considered essential workers, and therefore were ineligible to be first in line when Covid vaccines appeared on the scene in early 2021, said Dr. Donna Benton, Research Associate Professor of Gerontology at the University of Southern California’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.

Benton also serves as director of the USC Family Caregiver Support Center and the Los Angeles Caregiver Resource Center. “Vaccines are a key weapon against the ravages of this virus,” she stated.

“Vaccines are a key weapon against the ravages of this virus,” she stated.

USC’s survey of local caregivers found that of the 60 percent who had jobs outside of the home, 30% had dropped out of the formal work force in order to care for their families – a factor that increased their isolation. Dropouts were primarily women, noted Benton.

There are more than 4.5 million family caregivers in California alone, but Benton said they are largely invisible in the broader healthcare system.

“Caregivers are saying ‘we want the masks.’ We need PPE. We need to be prioritized for boosters, and also for testing,’” she said. She noted the near-impossibility of getting a home testing kit or an appointment for a Covid test.

The Biden Administration announced Jan. 13 that it was purchasing an additional 500,000 million home testing kits. Benton expressed her hope that family caregivers would be a priority for distribution of those additional supplies.  The administration plans to distribute 1 billion home testing kits in total.

Benton also spoke of the need to expand at-home vaccines and booster services, noting that it is difficult to get home-bound people, especially those with dementia into a car and out to a vaccination site. “There are not enough healthcare workers going door to door,” she said.

Ruth Rembert shared her personal story of serving as the sole caregiver to her husband, who has multiple myeloma — the cancer that killed former Secretary of State Colin Powell last year. Because of his hugely compromised immune system, even a cold can have huge health consequences, she said, adding that she is letting no one come into the house for fear of even minor infections.

“I won’t  allow anybody to come in my house who has not been vaccinated, and even then, I insist they wear a mask. People don’t realize the danger they put you in when they don’t get vaccinated, or when they’re not masked, said Rembert, noting there was a lot of misinformation spreading about the continued need to wear a mask indoors in congregate settings, even if fully vaccinated.

“I heard people say, I don’t want to put that in my body. I say: ‘you have two choices. You can either choose to have this vaccine in your vein, or you can choose to have formaldehyde in your veins, because that’s how serious it is.’”

Rev. Noella Buchanan, Caregiver Coordinator for the Southern California Conference African Methodist Episcopal Church Ministerial Alliance and a retired pastor, has been the caregiver for her mother-in-law, her sister-in-law, her mother and then her husband. She is now the primary caregiver for her cousin who is over a hundred years of age.

Buchanan noted that Black people have throughout history been used for spurious medical testing, including the Tuskegee Experiment, and therefore have an inherent fear of getting vaccinated. “Many people believe their faith will carry them through. But we are seeing so many loved ones die when they haven’t taken the shots.”

Like Benton, Buchanan advocated for health care workers to deliver vaccines at home. “Elderly people can’t stand in line for two to three hours.”

She noted that vaccines and home testing kits can be delivered via houses of faith. “People trust their churches.”

22 year old rapper Kennedy King shared a rap that won her first place in a contest organized by Saint Paul’s AME Church in San Bernardino, California. King and her family have all suffered through Covid; she fears for her grandparents getting infected, noting the consequences would be much higher.

King noted that her generation gets most of their news from social media, and raps are an important tool in spreading the word about the effectiveness of vaccines.

“Music is very relevant to young people’s lives; we communicate a lot through music,” she said, before performing her prize-winning rap.

“We have to get into young people’s heads that if you don’t care about yourself enough to get a vaccine, care about the elders around you,” said King.

By Lou Yeboah

God did not just let them go into sin. He sent messenger after messenger, prophet after prophet, judge after judge, king after king—and they never listened. God had compassion on them and wanted to save them, but they were not willing. [2 Chronicles 36:15].

God’s people were very busy making money, accumulating things, and practicing their religion. But God was also very busy—sending famines, droughts, blights, locusts, epidemics, warfare, and possibly earthquakes in judgment for their unrighteousness [Amos 4:6-11]. He hoped that they would heed these “minor” warnings before He sent the rod of His anger against them [Isaiah 10:5]. But they would not heed, so this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “The day of joy will soon be the season of mourning in your Nation.” [Ezekiel 3:26-27] I have called over and over for my people to repent, yet the words of my prophets have been as dust in the wind, for they will not repent.

The days of luxury and ease are ending, for the invasion of your Nation, will bring death, destruction fire and fear. You will see horror that will cause your heart to faint with fear unless you take shelter in My truth. Repent and again I say REPENT!!!

For, the whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it” [Jeremiah 4:27-28; Ezekiel 24:14].

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore, be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. [Revelation 3:14-22].

“You have rejected me, declares the LORD. You keep on backsliding, so I will reach out and destroy you; I am tired of holding back. I will destroy my people since they return not from their ways. I will bring bereavement and destruction on my people, for they have not changed their ways. [Jeremiah 15:6,7].

You have been found guilty. You have been given a warning to Repent. Is there anything you would like to say before sentencing?

By Tony Grant

Tony Grant

Was he the right man at the right time with the right message for America? I believe he was!

By Mildred Henry

Maria says in the musical, The Sound of Music, “When the Lord closes a door, He opens a window”.  The window opened and, yippee! my book is finished!

The book, “From the Ashes I Rise, dare to do the Impossible”, by Dr. Mildred Dalton Hampton-Henry will be uploaded on Amazon the week of January 10, 2022 and available for purchase thereafter. You can purchase and the book will be mailed to you.  My birthday is February 4th.  What a birthday present – to have my book published!

Thank You for continually asking me, “How is the book coming?”  You “kept my feet to the fire” and the book is completed.

The title “From the Ashes I Rise” refers to the Dalton Farm in Arkansas, which was burned by the Ku Klux Klan, but from those ashes I rose and determined to “Dare to do the Impossible” in California.

Thank you for your motivating encouragement and together we did it!  Be informed and enjoy!

Since day one, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken every step available to keep schools safely open for full-time, in-person instruction. These efforts have resulted in 96% of schools open in-person in January 2022, up from 46% of schools in January 2021. Students have sacrificed so much over the course of the pandemic, and the President has been clear in his words and his actions that his Administration will do all that it can to keep schools safely open for all students.

Today the Biden-Harris Administration is doubling down on our commitment to keeping all schools safely open for full-time in-person learning by taking new action to increase access to COVID-19 testing in schools. Through these new initiatives, the Administration will increase the number of COVID-19 tests available to schools by 10 million per month. These additional tests will help schools safely remain open and implement screening testing and test to stay programs. With the additional ten million tests per month, we will make available to schools more than double the volume of testing that took place in schools across the nation in November 2021 (the most recent data available).

We know how to keep students and staff safely in school—including through vaccinations and boosters, implementing universal indoor masking, maintaining physical distancing, improving ventilation, and performing COVID-19 screening testing. Over the past year, the Biden-Harris Administration has provided historic funding and extensive resources to states and school districts across the country to make sure schools reopen and remain open – including $130 billion in the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund to safely reopen schools and address students’ academic and mental health needs, and $10 billion in the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) cooperative agreement to support COVID-19 testing for students and staff.

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is increasing COVID-19 testing for schools by:

• Sending 5 Million No-Cost Point-of-Care Tests Per Month to Schools. The Administration will distribute 5 million free, rapid tests to schools each month to help K-12 schools stay open and to implement and sustain screening testing and test to stay programs in accordance with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This new allocation builds on the CDC Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) program, which distributed $10 billion in resources to states to support COVID-19 testing in schools. CDC will work with states who can submit requests to receive additional tests for high-need school districts that can put these tests immediately to use. After states submit initial requests, the first shipments will be delivered later this month.
• Providing 5 Million Additional Lab-Based PCR Tests for Free to Schools Per Month: The Administration is making available lab capacity to support an additional 5 million PCR tests per month for schools to perform individual and pooled testing in classrooms nationwide. The additional testing will be delivered through the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Operation Expanded Testing (ET) program, funded by the American Rescue Plan to provide free PCR testing at schools nationwide. Three federally funded regional providers offer testing materials, supplies, and lab results and reporting at no direct cost to recipients through four regional hubs. Schools can immediately gain access to this free lab-based testing.
• Deploying Federal Surge Testing Units to Support Free Testing Access for Students, School Staff, and Families at Community Testing Sites. HHS and FEMA are working with state, territorial, and tribal partners to address testing needs in communities and stand up federal testing sites. These surge testing sites are focused on ensuring hardest-hit and highest-risk communities have equitable access to free and convenient testing. Effective immediately, as the agencies review state, territorial, and tribal requests, they will consider how these sites can support the safe operations of K-12 schools. Opportunities to support K-12 schools may include locating federal testing units on or near school grounds; establishing specific operating hours for students, their families, and school staff; or dedicating a specific portion of daily testing to school communities. By incorporating school needs, state leaders can more effectively build school testing into their requests and planning while surge test sites continue to provide robust access to communities with greatest need.
• Connecting Schools with COVID-19 Testing Providers to Set Up School Testing Programs using American Rescue Plan Funds. In addition to $10 billion for states to set up K-12 testing programs in the ELC program, the American Rescue Plan included $130 billion in the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund to safely reopen schools, which may be used to support school-based COVID-19 testing. To support schools that want to set up COVID-19 testing programs, the Department of Education (ED) and CDC will work with states and outside organizations to help schools make connections to testing providers that are available in their state. This includes connecting local school districts with the testing providers contracted by their states to set up COVID-19 testing in school using ELC funding. While programs vary by state, these arrangements allow schools to access testing resources quickly and coordinated with statewide activities, including accessing test supply and administration. Schools should contact their jurisdiction to join existing state efforts funded by ELC. CDC and ED will also engage schools to help them learn how to set up testing programs and how they can use their American Rescue Plan funds to support them
• New Training, Resources, and Materials for Implementing Test to Stay in Schools. Last month, CDC released guidance on “test to stay,” an approach that allows students to remain safely in the classroom during their quarantine period as long as they wear masks and test at least two times in the seven days following an exposure. Test to stay programs are an effective approach for identifying and containing infection at school, and help enable schools to minimize and avoid interruptions to in-person instruction. Later this week, CDC will release additional materials for schools on how to implement test to stay programs, including a school checklist and frequently asked questions and answers. Additionally, ED and CDC will continue to provide additional opportunities for states and school districts to learn about test to stay and how to effectively implement test to stay approaches in school.

The actions announced today build on more than $10 billion in investments that the Biden-Harris Administration has made in setting up testing programs in K-12 schools. School districts can also take advantage of the below resources immediately, as outlined in a letter Secretary Cardona is sending this week to school officials demonstrating available resources to support COVID-19 testing and urging them to get started today. Supports also include:

• Free Community COVID-19 Testing Sites. Schools may consider referring students, teachers, and staff to community-based testing sites that are supported by federal funding. HHS continues to work with pharmacies and retail companies to accelerate testing for more Americans in communities across the country.

Full Reimbursement for COVID-19 Testing Programs. FEMA’s Public Assistance Program continues to provide federal funding to states, tribal nations, territories and localities to support COVID-19 testing. This includes testing needed to safely open and operate public facilities, including K-12 schools. 100% reimbursement is available for schools and localities to set up diagnostic and screening testing programs. This provides an important way for communities to expand upon federal surge testing sites by providing resources for state and local leaders to open and operate additional testing sites in partnership with schools.

By Lou Yeboah

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters. Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.  [Daniel 7:1-8]

I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near unto one of them that stood by and asked him the truth of all this. So, he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, who shall arise out of the earth.

Thus, he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most High and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart. [Daniel 7: 17-28].

Let the reader understand, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains . . . “for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall.” The next three and a half years will be more terrible than anything that had ever occurred before. [Matthew 24:21].

Listen, “Prophecy” is revealed to men to change their perspective, to urge them to see things as God sees them rather than as they appear to the human eye. This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, John.

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it, for the time is at hand. [Revelation 1:3].

Publisher’s Commentary by Wallace Allen

Testing The Test!

The test for COVID-19 is being suggested by some and required by some others. Various activities and events may require evidence of a negative test in order to participate or attend. Having a negative test days before the planned activity or event is often the recommended policy that represents the safe way to gather with others.

Does a negative result from a COVID-19 test truly indicate the COVID-19 status of the person who took the test?

Should we consider the recent exposure that occurred too recently for the test to detect or exposure any time after the test?

Thinking it through seems to suggest that the only thing that the test can really determine is if someone were negative at the time of the test, which is not an indication of their immediate, and certainly not their long-term status, such as one day later.

Taking the vaccine has become a social argument that is now documenting strong results for the vaccinated; however, the unvaccinated have among them some that take the efficiency gaps in bureaucratic policy, logic and procedures as reason to fight the shot.

If we were all tested daily, we would find people that test positive today who tested negative yesterday.

Insisting that taking the test is a truly relevant procedure feeds that skepticism. The energy and resources used on testing are probably better used elsewhere.

The New Year brings strong support for underserved communities during the pandemic.

COSTA MESA, Calif. (January XX, 2022) – Leading information services company Experian announced today a $375,000 contribution to four nonprofit organizations that directly support African American communities, as they emerge from challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. These donations will help organizations with operating expenses, and allow for the development of new programs and initiatives.

“Nonprofits have been a critical resource for underserved communities and continue to be resilient in the face of the health and financial crises caused by the pandemic,” said Abigail Lovell, senior vice president of corporate social responsibility for Experian. “In addition to our work together and reaching out with the message of financial inclusion for all, this is an opportunity to provide real support with their general operating expenses. We hope the funds will enable them to strengthen their impact in the communities that need help the most and lessen the wealth gap in society.”

Experian has contributed to the following four nonprofit organizations:

• United Negro College Fund (UNCF) – UNCF’s mission is to build a robust and nationally-recognized pipeline of under-represented students who, because of UNCF support, become highly-qualified college graduates and to ensure that UNCF’s network of member institutions is a respected model of best practices in moving students to and through college.
• National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Fund – The NNPA Fund promotes scholastic and professional initiatives designed to honor the historic mission of the Black Press: to explore and celebrate black culture, fill the void in news coverage of the Black experience, and provide compelling content that educates, engages, inspires and empowers consumers.
• California Black Media (CBM) – CBM exists to facilitate communication between the Black community, media, grassroots organizations, and policy makers by providing fact-based reporting to a network of over 21 Black media outlets on leading public policy issues.
• The LAGRANT Foundation (TLF) – TLF’s mission is to increase the number of ethnic minorities in the fields of advertising, marketing, and public relations by providing scholarships, career and professional development workshops, mentorships, and internships/entry-level positions to African American/Black, Alaska Native/Native American, Asian American/Pacific Islander and Hispanic/Latino undergraduate and graduate students.

Experian’s contribution will support the development of a new financial literacy program by The LAGRANT Foundation. The TLF-created program will provide ethnic minority college and university students, as well as young professionals, seeking careers in the fields of advertising, marketing and public relations with the knowledge, guidance and resources needed to become financially literate while gaining an understanding of proper credit card use and financial planning.

Investing in underserved communities is a key pillar of Experian’s Corporate Social Responsibility program, which is committed to investing time, resources and partnerships to create a better tomorrow by helping millions gain access to essential everyday services, facilitating inclusion and diversity, and managing Experian’s environmental footprint responsibly.

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About Experian

Experian is the world’s leading global information services company. During life’s big moments – from buying a home or a car, to sending a child to college, to growing a business by connecting with new customers – we empower consumers and our clients to manage their data with confidence. We help individuals to take financial control and access financial services, businesses to make smarter decisions and thrive, lenders to lend more responsibly, and organizations to prevent identity fraud and crime.

We have 20,000 people operating across 44 countries and every day we’re investing in new technologies, talented people, and innovation to help all our clients maximize every opportunity. We are listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and are a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Learn more at www.experianplc.com or visit our global content hub at our global news blog for the latest news and insights from the Group.