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MEDIA RELEASE: Juanisha Brooks makes the director’s chair ‘fit’

In keeping with the tradition of “Making the Chair Fit,” Menah Pratt-Clarke asked Virginia Tech alumna and senior video producer for the Department of Defense, Juanisha Brooks, what her favorite chair was during a recent segment.

“The director’s chair, because not many Black women occupy that chair,” said Brooks, a 2008 graduate and recent addition to the university’s Alumni Board of Directors. She has served as a volunteer for the Black Alumni Reunion since 2014.

Pratt-Clarke, vice president for strategic affairs and diversity, hosts “Making the Chair Fit,” an entertaining and informational series. Through the series, she examines and highlights the many people and programs dedicated to serving underrepresented and underserved students, faculty, and staff.

As senior video producer for the Department of Defense, Brooks is part of an in-house multimedia production unit that produces documentaries and training materials, as well as interviews with military and high-level intelligence officials. Part of her daily responsibilities include serving as producer, editor, and director for a wide range of video productions for the agency’s internal and external media platforms. Because of the sensitive nature of much of her work, Brooks had to obtain top-level security clearance through a process that took more than seven months.

Growing up, Brooks thought she’d be in front of the camera as an actress. In high school she signed up for television production and found it both fun and powerful, so she chose to major in communication at Virginia Tech. She was selected as a fellow for the International Radio and Television Society, received the Steger Award for Undergraduate Poetry, was awarded the Virginia Tech NAACP Female Undergraduate of the Year Award, and was a finalist for Undergraduate Woman of the Year.

Brooks’ first big break in broadcasting came when she was selected — from a pool of more than 8,000 applicants nationwide — to be a part of the prestigious NBC page program. She then became a production assistant at the MSNBC headquarters in New York City. In 2012, Brooks was hired as media coordinator for the CNN Washington bureau, where she helped produce political coverage for the “Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.”

Despite her successful career and high-level government clearance, Brooks recently fell victim to racial profiling. While driving home late one night, Brooks was stopped by the police, arrested, jailed, and charged with four crimes.

“It broke my heart to know that I could one day work in a role where the main mission is to support and defend, yet I was not treated with the same respect,” Brooks said. “The service didn’t matter, all that mattered was the color of my skin. The people who were assigned to protect and serve me did not, and that is something that has sat with me.”

When asked why she is speaking up about the case, Brooks quoted Audre Lorde, “Your silence will not protect you.”

“I could have lost my life. I could have lost my career,” said Brooks. “Black lives matter — but also, black livelihoods matter,” she added.

When asked what advice has been transformational, Juanisha replied, “My mother said that no matter what happens in life, keep going. Put one foot in front of the other and keep going. If you have that determination you can keep going.”

The incident has since been expunged from her record.

“Virginia Tech is where I initially developed a spirit of service and saw future military leaders in action through the Corps of Cadets,” she said. “No matter what path I take next, I will take valuable lessons of service with me.”

Looking ahead, Brooks – who chairs the communications committee for the Black Alumni Reunion, said, “I am passionate about connecting Black alumni, building community, and increasing engagement across decades. I am looking forward to the in-person reunion in 2022.”

An Inside Look At How The NBA Became A Social-Media Juggernaut


By Alex Kennedy

In 2021, “NBA” was the No. 1 trending Google search in the United States, beating out “Squid Game,” “Mega Millions” and “stimulus check” among other top searches. “NBA” also fared well globally, ranking as Google’s No. 4 trending search worldwide.

Kevin Esteves, the NBA’s associate vice president of digital strategy and analytics, did a double take when Google released this data a few weeks ago.

“I read it a few times just to make sure I understood what they were capturing and measuring,” Esteves told BasketballNews.com in a phone interview. “It’s an incredible stat. In a year like 2021 — with all of the news and trending searches that would’ve been in contention for the No. 1 spot — for the NBA to occupy that top spot, I think it’s just a testament to the health of the brand and how exciting the league has been over the last few years. It’s an incredible brand-health metric for us, but I think it also speaks to how the NBA is more than just a basketball league; it kind of infiltrates the conversation across culture, music, fashion and social justice.”

The NBA has always had an excellent social-media presence, but 2021 was perhaps the league’s most impressive year to date.

Last year, the NBA was the most-viewed and most-engaged pro-sports-league account on social media, driving 24 billion views and 2.3 billion engagements across all platforms. Also, the NBA added 18 million followers across Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Facebook combined last year — the most of any U.S. pro sports league.

“What’s really been our guiding philosophy throughout is we’ve tried to be a first-mover on all of these platforms, and in many cases, we were the first sports-league account on the platform,” Esteves explained. “Then, it’s about optimizing content for the platform that we’re on — not just spraying the same piece of content across all of our platforms, but really optimizing for each platform, nurturing that fan base and giving them exactly what they want. That’s sort of been key in our recipe for success.”

In addition to growing its following on the larger platforms like Instagram and Twitter, the NBA also had a number of successful live activations on Twitch and TikTok among others. Even the way the league embraced Clubhouse during the height of its popularity — with regularly scheduled Watch Parties — is indicative of this philosophy.

“I think a lot of brands can be hesitant around new platforms as they’re emerging because they aren’t sure if the ROI is there, or they’re not sure exactly how it ladders up to their overall company objective,” Esteves said. “When you think about social media when it first started, a lot of brands were in the business of driving people back to their website or other offerings, whereas I think we’ve always had the directive from our executives to optimize for the platform we’re on and nurture engagement there.

“At first, it was a very big marketing platform for us, but now, social drives just about every business objective that we have. But I don’t think we could have achieved that if we were thinking that our first post on each platform had to drive 10 of our business objectives. We had to nurture engagement on those platforms to then be able to capitalize in the long-term. I think we benefited from that approach. Globally, I think you’re starting to see more and more sports leagues embrace a similar approach, being on multiple platforms and [creating specific] content that they make available on those platforms to engage fans and ultimately increase the reach of the sport.”

The NBA currently has the most followers of any pro-sports-league account on Instagram (63.1 million), Twitter (35.9 million), YouTube (17.7 million) and TikTok (14.2 million). In comparison, the NFL has just 22.7 million Instagram followers, 28.3 million Twitter followers, 8.7 million YouTube subscribers and 7.4 million TikTok followers.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey (L) and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver speak at a press event at CES 2019 at the Aria Resort & Casino on Jan. 9, 2019, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two discussed their partnership on #NBATwitter. (David Becker/Getty Images)

A big part of Esteves’ job is trying to turn those followers into regular viewers. He describes this as “a pivotal challenge and opportunity.”

“We believe that social [media] is a driver of awareness and reach, and that it can complement and increase linear viewership,” Esteves said. “We know that there are such avid communities, whether it’s the #NBATwitter community or the communities that we have on YouTube, Reddit, you name it. They are among the most vibrant social communities on each platform, and we believe that it’s a complementary offering. It’s long been our strategy to drive awareness through social.

“For a game like Klay Thompson’s return, we had a live social producer on hand to capture Klay’s arrival, his warm-up routine, him coming out of the locker room and just all of that context. For all of our biggest nationally televised games, we’re making it appointment-style viewing. We know that fans on social are inundated with content. You see the trends on a platform like TikTok, where seemingly anyone can go viral now with content that they just captured on their phone.

“There’s so much content saturation out there right now, so you really have to break through the noise, and we’ve found that the best way to do that is to be authentic and provide access that nobody else can. Before tip-off of Klay’s return, we had a video of Klay running right up to the stanchion and he jumps into the camera. There’s no way you can get closer than that! And we’ve always felt that is important.

“Something that [Commissioner] Adam Silver always says is, ‘Ninety-nine percent of our fans never get to attend a game live.’ So how do we use social to bring the game courtside and make them feel like they’re actually there? We feel like that’s a critical bridge between social and TV tune-in, creating those authentic relationships and providing the context for why this is such a big game or matchup. We use social to do that storytelling.”

Having a live social producer on hand for Thompson’s return paid off, as the NBA’s Instagram generated 103 million views —  the most-viewed regular-season day in the account’s history. Klay-specific content generated more than 110 million views across the NBA’s socials, making Thompson’s return the most-viewed regular-season moment ever. Video of Thompson’s pregame introduction received 22.3 million views, which is the NBA’s second-most-viewed Instagram video of all-time.

It translated to linear viewership too. On NBA TV, the game averaged 844,000 viewers, making it the league’s most-viewed regular-season game since 2016. Locally, NBC Sports Bay Area had a 12.7 household rating, the network’s highest-rated regular-season game since 2016.

The NBA is terrific at creating these moments that get everyone talking. During the 2021 NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta, the league’s Instagram account generated more than 139 million views — the most of any account on the platform that day. The NBA’s IG also racked up the most views of any account when Stephen Curry broke the NBA’s all-time three-point record, generating 63 million views in 24 hours.

And thanks to the super active and passionate community on #NBATwitter, it’s not uncommon to see multiple players and teams trending on Twitter whenever something notable happens in the NBA. Several years ago, I asked Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey about the rise of #NBATwitter and how it became one of the most-engaged communities on the platform.

“I think the first reason it’s become so strong is the league’s acceptance of it. And not just acceptance, but usage of it,” Dorsey told me. “There’s a very open mindset to technologies like Twitter and that’s helped immensely. I also think the pace of Twitter matches the pace of the NBA and basketball in general. We [focused on] very brief moments and it’s fast-paced and there’s a lot going on, and you find a lot of the same dynamics within basketball and an appreciation for those things within the fan base.

“We were fortunate to get a lot of the players on the service [early] and also the commentators — a lot of the smart commentators… We have some of the most amazing fans on #NBATwitter too… I think it’s a good companion to the event and to what you’re watching. It also has that feeling of making the world smaller. We’re all watching this game at once; we all saw the same thing and here’s how we all feel about it — whether we’re outraged or we’re excited, we’re [part] of the crowd.”

Esteves agrees with Dorsey.

“When it comes to #NBATwitter, we’ve leaned in, of course. Our game is high-paced, volatile, real-time and has all of those ‘did-you-just-see-that’ moments that are kind of perfect fodder for a platform like Twitter. I think we’ve benefited from the product on the court. The NBA is an extremely exciting product on the court with many rising talents,” Dorsey said.

“The other day, Ja Morant had his freakish block in transition, and that’s just fuel for Twitter and the conversation that’s occurring there. In many ways, it’s also a credit to the media, who are such a valuable part of that ecosystem and conversation, and to our players, who not only produce on the court but have been very invested. Shaq was among the first people with a Twitter account, period. Having our players invested in the platform helped. We’ve benefited from that marriage, that partnership over the years, and our game has grown as a result.”

If you’re a basketball fan, it’s almost impossible to avoid #NBATwitter these days. Even if you aren’t on the platform, you’re bound to hear about various tweets and the drama that unfolds there. When DeAndre Jordan flip-flopped on his free-agency decision to join the Dallas Mavericks and re-signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, that saga played out on #NBATwitter. Bryan Colangelo lost his job as general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers because some #NBATwitter sleuths discovered his burner account. Nearly every free-agency signing, trade and draft pick is reported first on #NBATwitter. It has become an integral part of the NBA landscape. It’s also wildly entertaining.

“My favorite account — and one that I think makes #NBATwitter so special — is Draymond Green’s mother, @BabersGreen,” Dorsey told me several years ago. “She has found all the other NBA moms on Twitter and she trash-talks them during games! She also trash-talks her own son during games! Watching a game with her tweeting about what’s going on with Draymond or with other moms is just entertaining. The basketball game is amazing in itself, but to see her comment on it just makes it funny.”

The NBA’s YouTube channel is also a huge point of pride. The channel generated 1.94 billion views in 2021, which was the most-viewed year in the channel’s 16-year history.

“These staggering numbers on YouTube are among the [metrics] we’re most proud of because, as I like to say from the data side, this single-year record viewership has been years in the making,” Esteves explained. “The NBA has been on YouTube since 2005, and the optimizations that are required to kind of perfect your algorithmic traffic are so nuanced; it comes down to thumbnails and headlines and captions and the length of the video and the pace of the video. We’re constantly tweaking and optimizing those things, and one thing that we’ve seen is that as you further optimize, you get this domino effect where one successful video fuels the performance of the next video and the next video and so on. So, seeing these numbers peak in 2021 is a testament to a lot of the optimizations that we’ve made over the course of several years.”

This was something that Esteves pointed out several times: the NBA’s success in 2021 was the culmination of several years of hard work.

“I sit on our Digital Content Strategy and Analytics team and we sit hand in hand with the content-publishing team, and we created that feedback and optimization loop over several years and now we’re seeing the dividends of all that work,” Esteves said. “Also, we’re trying to increase data fluency throughout the entire company. We don’t want all of the answers to sit in one group that sends out an email or report saying ‘X, Y and Z.’ We want more people throughout the organization to understand the data and be able to analyze it themselves; I think that has also been part of our success.”

Esteves joined the NBA in 2012, so not only has he witnessed the league’s tremendous growth across various platforms, but he’s also seen how the digital landscape has changed over the last decade.

“It’s been an incredible transformation,” he said. “I started at the NBA out of school as a project employee on our Social Content team. When I first started, on a lot of these platforms, it was rather intuitive what content you published on each because they were all so different. Twitter was kind of the lifeblood of everything going on with news and commentary, and it was very tech specific. YouTube was where all videos existed and it was kind of the searchable domain of all video. Facebook was more for friends and family and conversations. Instagram started as a photo-only platform.

“From a content-strategy perspective, it was rather intuitive, understanding what content we put on each platform. But now, all of the platforms have evolved so much, and they have replicated a lot of the same features — from stories to videos to live-streams to audio-only formats. Now, it’s a lot more nuanced in terms of trying to understand where the content is going to work best, and that’s where the data becomes so important. We’re pulling in data from each of these platforms and really getting granular about trying to understand what performs best on each platform.

“I think part of what has made us so successful is being open to the data and leaning in to the data, and understanding what’s performing well versus what’s not performing well. Sometimes, it’s hard to admit the things that aren’t working, but we’ve been very transparent and honest with ourselves, and we hold ourselves accountable to make sure we’re optimizing on each of these platforms. Having that approach is another ingredient to our success and how we’ve been able to continue growing.”

This data includes interesting details about the NBA’s demographics. For example, the NBA’s Facebook, Instagram and TikTok accounts have more than 24 million combined followers from the Philippines — the most of any country outside of the United States.

“One of the things that makes the NBA so unique is its global reach, and we see that show up time and time again in the demographics,” Esteves said. “The fan support we have in the Philippines, I think, is among the most amazing things I’ve witnessed from the data side for the demographics of the NBA. For that country to represent such a significant portion of the consumption we have on a person-to-person basis, they just love the NBA; they love the stories and the players. Our content performs exceptionally well there.

“We see support from countries all over the world — in Europe, Australia, Africa and so on — but the Philippines is an example of something that really stood out to me. I think that ties back to a lot of the globalization that the NBA has done, with some of its global games being held in Manila and other locations outside of the U.S. That’s been critical and we’ve seen that show up in the numbers.”

Utilizing these platforms, the NBA has gone from connecting to its biggest local supporters to reaching an audience that spans the entire world.

“Being based in New York, sometimes you have that U.S.-centric bias when you’re looking at stuff, but once you see the data, it opens up your mind like, ‘Wow, this content is being consumed in real time across so many different territories and countries across the globe.’”

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Reparations Task Force: January Mtg Will Discuss Public “Listening Sessions”

By Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media

To ensure Black communities across the state voice their thoughts and concerns and provide input, the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans is partnering with six “anchor organizations” to host public listening sessions.

Each organization will help the task force hear various perspectives of Black Californians as it assesses the state’s involvement in slavery and Jim Crow discrimination. The committee expects that process to inform the work they do when developing recommendations for compensating African Americans for past and ongoing race-based injustices.

The Coalition For A Just and Equitable California (CJEC) is one of the host organizations. A state-wide network of organizations, associations, and individuals united to push reparations for the descendants of enslaved men and women, the CJEC will participate in 12 sessions involving Black Californians from different social and economic backgrounds.

 “We’ve been at this since 2019. We worked hard for this assignment and it’s really a testament of waking up, networking, and organizing Black folks around the state,” Chris Lodgson, a founding member of CJEC, told California Black Media.

“What we are expected to do as part of that process is produce at least two listening sessions and the task force will support them. These sessions will allow Black Californians to think about what reparations should look like and how it should be implemented,” Lodgson continued.

Along with CJEC, the Black Equity Collective, Afrikan Black Coalition, Black Power Network, Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement (COPE), and Othering and Belonging Institute are the anchor organizations helping to plan the sessions.

 

Lodgson said CJEC will “coordinate” with the other five anchor organizations to prevent “doubling efforts” and provide a cross-section of opportunities and ideas from the sessions.

 

“At least two Task Force members are expected to attend each listening session,” Lodgson said.

“We really want to talk to people in our community that get overlooked the most,” Lodgson said. “People who are unhoused, formerly incarcerated, from the foster care system, street organizations, et cetera, are the people we want to hear from. Their thoughts matter, too.”

At its first two-day meeting of 2022 on Thursday, Jan. 27, and Friday, Jan. 28, task force members will explain in more detail the rationale and process of the listening sessions. The virtual meetings will begin at 9:00 a.m. both days.

During the upcoming meetings, task force member Dr. Cheryl Grills will highlight the task force’s “Community Engagement Plan, providing more information about the listening sessions.

The meeting will also feature testimony from experts during the “Discrimination in Technology,” “Community Eligibility,” and “Public Health” segments on Jan. 27.

During the task force’s second meeting last July, Grills introduced the idea of the listening sessions.

Black communities in the southern, northern, and central parts of the state (where many Black farmers reside) are expected to be involved in the process.

“Black folks exist in an ecosystem and the system includes a diverse, cultural base of people, social class, education levels, etc.,” Grills said. “So how do we make sure that those people, who are a part of the ecosystem, are impacted? They need to be at the table.”

Grills was appointed to the National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC) earlier this month. She is a professor of Psychology at Loyola Marymount University, former national President of the Association of Black Psychologists, and founder/director of a non-profit program evaluation organization called Imoyase Community Support Services.

NAARC is comprised of a distinguished assembly of activists, scholars, civil rights, human rights, labor, and faith leaders. The organization devised a 10-Point Reparations Program to serve as a guide and frame of reference for the growing reparations movement in the country.

“Dr. Grills has been amazing. She’s has done a great job in leading our community engagement effort,” Lodgson said. “She’s been largely responsible for looking for groups to be anchor organizations, bringing together resources, and facilitating the conversations.”

On Friday, Jan. 28, the California Task Force will hear testimonies from experts discussing mental health and physical health.

California’s Assembly Bill (AB) 3121, titled “The Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans,” created a nine-member commission to investigate race-based inequity in education, labor, wealth, housing, taxation and more. The commission is also charged with analyzing the state’s involvement in slavery, segregation, and the historic denial of Black citizens’ constitutional rights.

Current California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber authored the bill when she was a member of the State Assembly and chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus.

AB 3121 requires the task force to submit its recommendations to the legislature no later than 2023.

The January 2022 meeting will be the first of six meeting this year. The public is encouraged to join the meeting at https://primetime.bluejeans.com/a2m/live-event/ccajafkq

 

COVID Winter Surge Brings New Challenges for Elder and Youth Health Care

By Aldon Thomas | California Black Media

The COVID-19 winter surge has impacted different age groups in different ways, as caretakers struggle to take care of the elderly during this pandemic and parents remain wary of their children returning to in-person classes.

“It’s been here but it’s been everywhere for like the last 14 days,” said Los Angeles County resident Clarence Johnson whose wife, Tanesha Johnson, decided to shut down their daycare last year.

Across the United States, 1,099 children under 18 have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In California, the state Department of Public Health reports that 47 children have died of the disease.

This past December saw a four-fold increase of children admitted to hospital over the past year, according to the African American Wellness Project.

Tanesha Johnson, owner and director of the Sunshine Academy Childcare Center in Inglewood, made the choice to close her daycare after reflecting on her own concerns as a parent.

“When I started seeing how fast the COVID-19 virus began to spread, I had to now think as a mother and not just as a business owner,” said Johnson. “I said, ‘okay, if I did not own a daycare, would I feel comfortable sending my children to school at this time,’ and the answer was no.”

Johnson said she is still cautious about her children returning to school and hopes that kids will be required to test before returning.

Both the federal and state governments have been pushing for more tests in schools, with Gov. Gavin Newsom announcing each student in public school will get two at-home COVID-19 tests.

The Biden administration announced that they will be implementing initiatives that will increase the number of tests in 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,” read the press release from the White House.

In the US, only 27% of parents of 5- to 11-year-olds are in favor of vaccinating their children, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a number of challenges for the country’s aging population as well, particularly for African Americans and other minorities.

Only 7% of people ages 65 and older who received a booster shot are Black.

Earlier this month, retired Assemblymember Cheryl R. Brown (D-San Bernardino), who is a member of the California Commission on Aging, hosted a news briefing with journalists featuring caregivers discussing the difficulties of taking care of aging adults in the state. The virtual conversation was organized by St. Paul AME Church in San Bernardino, Black Voice News in Riverside and Ethnic Media Services.

According to Donna Benton, Research Professor of Gerontology at USC, caretakers of aging Californians, including family members, have also been impacted.

“The majority of care, elder care in our state, is done by family members,” she said. “We are an essential part of the healthcare system.”

Benton, who is also director of the USC Family Caregiver Support Center and the Los Angeles Caregiver Resource Center, said there are nearly 4.5 million family caregivers in California.

One caretaker, Ruth Rembert, who lives in the Inland Empire, talked about tending to her ill husband and how the pandemic puts him at greater risk.

“His immune system was compromised,” she said. “He has two strikes against him, number one is his age and also his medical issues.”

She also emphasized her support for more people being immunized.

“This pandemic has definitely been a challenge for me and for my husband,” she said. “We all wish this would be over, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be anytime soon unless we take seriously the importance of vaccinations.”

The Rev. Noella Buchanan, Caregiver Coordinator for the Southern California Conference of the African Methodist Church Ministerial Alliance, said most elderly African Americans are people of faith and that plays a role in the way they approach their health care.

“We need to share with them that if God has opened up a way for someone to come up with a vaccine, we need to trust. And part of our trust comes from what we are seeing. We are seeing loved one die. And the loved ones that are dying are the one that have not taken the shot,” she said.

California Black Media’s coverage of COVID-19 is supported by the California Health Care Foundation.

 

Fighting Homelessness: Gov. Newsom Sets Sights on Mental Health, Addiction

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

Gov. Gavin Newsom says his administration is emphasizing combating drug addiction and mental illness as part of the state’s multi-year plan to solve California’s homelessness crisis – the worst in the country.

Newsom says focusing on those health needs of unhoused people is a component of his ongoing “Comeback Plan,” an effort launched last year to help the state recover from the economic and social impacts of the pandemic.

“This past year, California has been able to move 58,000 individuals off our streets and into the housing and treatment they desperately needed,” said Newsom, adding that it will require a multi-pronged approach to end homelessness because the housing, medical and social needs of unhoused people vary.

When Newsom presented his budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2022-23 on Jan. 10, he asked the Legislature to approve $12 billion to support his housing strategy. About $3 billion of that amount would be spent on behavioral health housing, creating 44,0000 new housing units and treatment opportunities for people who are mentally ill. Another $2 billion would go to local governments in the form of flexible aid for housing programs, he said.

 “The California Blueprint will double down on those efforts, focusing on clearing encampments, while also setting the groundwork for long-term systemic change with significant investments in mental health and substance abuse treatment to get vulnerable people off the streets.”

Black Californians are disproportionately homeless. Of the estimated 160,000 unhoused people in the state, more than 40 % are African American.

Newsom said, in addition to several other measures like securing housing for students and veterans, his administration is currently considering a plan to move the state toward conservatorship for people who are mentally ill. He did not give details about the program, but he said there is a possibility the state will begin entrusting the care of mentally ill people to individuals or institutions in the near future.

In 1967, when Ronald Reagan was governor of California, the State deinstitutionalized mentally ill patients after the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (LPSA) was passed and signed into law. California was one of the first states to deinstitutionalize mentally ill patients.

The number of mental patients occupying mental hospitals in California reached its highest point at 37,500 in 1959 when former Gov. Jerry Brown’s father, Edmund G. Brown, was governor. It dropped to 22,000 patients eight years later, according to a report by Chauvet Public Relations titled, “The History of Homelessness and Why We Can Do Better.”

Supporters of LPSA believed the law would provide protections for mental health patients and eliminate “the inappropriate, indefinite, and involuntary commitment of persons (to mental institutions) with mental health disorders,” the language of the bill reads.

LSPA critics say it inappropriately empowered mentally ill people to make important health care decisions for themselves when many of them had neither the will nor ability to do so.

When Reagan became president in 1980, he used the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) to repeal President Jimmy Carter’s Mental Health Systems Act, which funded federal mental health programs.

The OBRA gave mental patients the authority to make decisions about their treatment, including the options to seek care outside of a mental institution, get treatment at state-run clinics or the freedom to administer their own medication.

Last fall, the Newsom administration publicly let it be known that it is was leading the charge to provide solutions in the areas of low-income housing, mental health, and the state’s enduring homelessness problem.

In October, Gov. Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill (AB) 36, authored by Sen. Sydney Kamlager’s (D-Los Angeles) when she was an Assemblymember. The bill would have provided people experiencing homelessness access to health and social services outside the walls of a traditional medical clinic, including mobile clinics and shelter-based and other transitional housing-based health care.

According to Kamlager, AB 36 would have been the first law of its kind in the nation offering unhoused people Medi-Cal benefits without them having to share the cost.

Newsom’s letter explaining the veto says that the unhoused can already receive similar service through California’s Presumptive Eligibility program, which offers Medi-Cal and timely health care.

The bill was endorsed by 70 organizations and leaders across the state, including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. In L.A. County, where over 66,000 people are homeless, African Americans make up 34% of that number although the total Black population is nearly 8%.

People of color in California experience some of the highest rates of homelessness in the nation. For example, nationally, 55 Black people experience homelessness out of every 10,000. In California, that number is 194 out of every 10,000.

Pacific Research Institute (PRI) a San-Francisco-based research think tank released a report in April 2021 that specified decreases of homelessness in major metropolitan areas such as New York City and Seattle.

The report, “No Way to End California’s Homelessness Crisis,” says that “Clearly, California is doing something wrong” in terms of finding solutions.  Although the state makes up 12% (nearly 40 million residents) of the U.S. population, 27% of all homeless persons live in California, stated Kerry Jackson and Wayne Winegarden, the report’s authors.

According to Jackson and Winegarden, mental illness is one of the driving forces behind the California’s chronic homelessness problem.

But all hope is not lost, the researchers say.

“A new approach is needed. To cut through the state bureaucracy, California should rely on private efforts to minimize homelessness. Private organizations are typically better equipped than the government to make real differences in the lives of the homeless because they tailor programs to meet the specific needs of individual homeless and can adapt where the government cannot.”

“Detour Off the Road to Hell!”

By Lou Yeboah

There ain’t no other way to put it. Hear what Jesus says in [Mark 9:43-48]; If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell…. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire where worms do not die, and the fire is not quenched.

I admonish you, detour off the road to Hell. Hell is a place prepared for the devil and his angels, not for you. How will you escape if you ignore God’s salvation? How will you escape His wrath? [John 3:36]; His condemnation? [John 3:18]; His word of banishment? [Matthew 26:41]. You will not! Detour off the road to Hell which the Bible describes as a terrifying and horrible place. “Eternal Fire” [Matthew 25:41], “Unquenchable Fire” [Matthew 3:12; Mark 9:44-49], “Shame and Everlasting Contempt” [Daniel 12:2], “Everlasting Destruction” [2 Thessalonians 1:9]. A “Lake of Burning Sulfur” [Revelation 20:10] where the wicked are “tormented day and night forever and ever.”

Sinking into Hell, hopeless and without excuse!

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. [Revelation 20:12-20].

“And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night…” [Revelation 14:11].

What it Do with the LUE: Talented Youth is What it Do!

By Lue Dowdy, Lue Productions

Just because we’re in a pandemic, that doesn’t mean you can’t show off your skills. LUE Productions community umbrella services is looking for talented youth for its summer youth talent showcase scheduled to take place Saturday, July 30 in the beautiful City of San Bernardino.

This is a $500 competition so please let a talented youth know about this upcoming opportunity. All participants must be 19 and under to compete.  LUE Productions community umbrella services is a non-profit organization servicing the Inland Empire and beyond. Our goal for this event is to provide a platform for the talented, while bringing forth quality entertainment for the community to enjoy.

Registration forms can be located at http://www.lueproductions.org.The following talent performers in the following categories are encouraged to apply: singing, dancing, poetry, spoken word, bands, and musicians.  Groups are welcome.

Race and Health Care: New Report Shares Insights on Black Californians

By Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media

In keeping with its commitment to ending health inequities, the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) released the first phase of a three-part study documenting how race and racism shape the health care experiences of Black Californians.

The report, “In Their Own Words: Black Californians on Racism and Health Care,” was written by health services researcher Dr. Linda Cummings. The study synthesizes hour-long interviews with 100 Black Californians conducted from June to August 2021.

According to Katherine Haynes, a senior program officer serving on CHCF’s People-Centered Care team, “The project is to understand the interactions between racism, health and healthcare. (The first phase) is in-depth interviews that are really designed to gain a deep understanding of Black Californians’ perception of racism in this state’s healthcare system and its impact on them.”

CHCF’s main objective is to advance meaningful, measurable improvements in the way the health care delivery system provides care to the people of California, specifically individuals who are financially challenged and whose needs are not well served in the healthcare system.

EVITARUS, a Black-owned Los Angeles-based public opinion research firm, is conducting the three-phase

Study for CHCF. The firm has extensive experience polling California’s diverse constituencies and maintains long-standing relationships with Black-led community organizations and media.

“Dr. Linda Cummings wrote the report and we did the research. We designed the study, performed the data collection as well as the data analysis that supported Dr. Cummings and her findings,” according to Shakari Byerly, EVITARUS Managing Partner. “It was a thorough recruitment process and screening and screening of those that indicated an interest in participation. The participants also received an honorarium (of $125) for their participation.”

Findings from the first phase cautioned that just having a Black physician did not automatically result in better care. Negative experiences with Black physicians and other health providers of color can be an obstacle to health care, too.

“It is the subtle, the microaggressions that happen within

the health care field. So, I am resistant to get help unless I feel comfortable with the person who may or may not look like me,” a 33-year-old Black woman from the San Francisco Bay Area stated. “But I also have been discriminated against a lot from Black physicians as well.”

Cummings wrote that more than half of the respondents said that, at some time in their lives, they had been unhoused, without a stable place to live, or stayed with a family member or friend because they did not have a place of their own.

Notably, the study highlighted that the participants took their health care seriously.

“The respondents really spoke about how they were taking action to pursue health, advocating for themselves, in the health care system and taking steps to protect themselves from harm in the health care system,” said Haynes.

Nearly all the respondents (93%) had some form of health insurance. The majority were covered through employer-sponsored plans at 40% or Medi-Cal at 26%, the study reports.

The mix of participants also reflected the ethnic diversity of Black Californians. The majority of respondents identified as Black or African American (83%), Black and multiracial (6%), African (5%), Afro-Caribbean (4%), Afro-Latino (1%), and Black-Native American (1%), Byerly said.

“Everyone identified as Black, but we recognize that people come from different backgrounds,” Byerly said.  “It supports our research design to make sure that we show a full range of our community in California.”

Byerly also shared that 62% of the participants said they have experienced “some type of discrimination” based on their background while getting healthcare for themselves. About 59% said they were treated unfairly while getting healthcare for a family member, she added.

Phase II of the Listening to Black Californians study examines “structural issues” in the health care system gleaned from focus group discussions with Black Californians and key health care stakeholders,” Haynes said.

The third and final phase of the study will be a statewide survey of Black California residents. It will be crafted to evaluate the extent to which the Phase I and Phase II findings are represented in the general Black Californian population.

“The second phase with 18 focus groups, was completed right before the winter holidays. The third phase, we hope, will have over 3,000 Black-Californian participants,” Hayes said. “The final report is expected in the summer of 2022.”

Read the full report.

 

Biden & Democrats’ Approval Numbers Slipping Among All Black Voters

New HIT Strategies poll shows that even older Black voters, typically stalwart supporters of Democratic party candidates, are falling off

HIT Strategies feature

President Joe Biden’s job performance approval numbers continue to decline among Black voters, including now older Black voters, a traditionally stalwart constituency primarily responsible for his presidential win.

Voting Rights Takes Center Stage at Black Caucus MLK Breakfast

By Aldon Thomas | California Black Media

Voting rights was the central theme at a virtual breakfast the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) held Jan. 12 to celebrate the sacrifices and impact of Martin Luther King Jr. on American life and politics.

“It is not enough to evoke Dr. King’s name on his birthday, post on social media and then take the day off,” said Sen. Steve Bradford (D-Inglewood), CLBC chair, reminding the audience of King’s activism and how his efforts led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Bradford said there are forces still attacking the rights of some Americans to vote, and more work needs to be done to make sure the voices of all Americans are heard and that all voters have access to the ballot box.

“His birthday should be about a day on, a day of activity in our community, of activism and continuing to push for real change in this country,” he continued.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who is a former chair of the CLBC, said “the crisis of democracy is center stage, we are still fighting for our fundamental rights.”

“In 1965, we secured [the vote] and now we find ourselves debating the same issue over again and with great concern about the fact that we are faced with the rolling back of what we had thought was just old stuff that people would never go back to,” said Weber.

A day before the CLBC breakfast, President Biden and Vice President Harris visited Atlanta to emphasize the importance of protecting voting rights. Although, the House of Representatives voted a day later to pass the Freedom to Vote: John Lewis Act, the legislation is in jeopardy of not passing in the U.S. Senate as two Democratic Senators — Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Krysten Sinema (D-AZ) — refuse to change the rules allowing a minority of senators to block legislation.

Weber said there are about 400 bills making their way through state legislatures across the country that are attempting to restrict voting rights.

“Here we are now in this century, in this timeframe, in 2022, and we are talking about something that took place in 1965 in terms of the Voting Rights Act,” said Weber. “Dr. King told us, ‘I see governors with the words of interposition and nullification dripping from their lips.’ In other words, ‘I see Jim Crow laws. I see governors trying to overturn federal law with regards to what is right and what is just in this country.’”

Civil rights activist and friend of Dr. King, Rev. James Lawson, also spoke at the virtual breakfast and encouraged Black leaders to fight for their communities.

“Black elected officials must support the community of Black people all around the country, organizing continuous campaigns,” said Lawson who shared intimate details of his work with Dr. King and how much King’s ideas, strategizing and activism secured the human rights of all Americans.

During a press call on the same day, Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement Cedric Richmond spoke about the historical weight of the current voting rights standoff among lawmakers in Washington.

“Our democracy has faced defining moments many times in our history and this is one of those,” said Richmond. “This will be a question of what side you want to be on.”

Lawson called for community leaders to “dismantle plantation capitalism” and praised the work of other Black leaders that led to civil rights legislation during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s.

“The greatest use of law and nonviolent tactic was the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Many movements were in it, and we must not forget Little Rock Nine, Jackie Robinson’s desegregation of baseball and so on. It helped the Black community come together,” said Lawson.