Happily Divorced And After

Media 2070’s award-winning documentary, Black in the Newsroom, continues to screen at film festivals and universities around the nation, spotlighting the inequality many Black reporters face trying to tell the news.

The 17-minute documentary follows Elizabeth Montgomery, a Black journalist who lands her dream job at The Arizona Republic. However, her dream soon becomes a nightmare when her low salary forces her to choose between rent and groceries– while a white colleague is paid thousands of dollars more per year. The documentary sheds light on the lack of diversity in newsrooms and how this can impact Black news reporters and transform the way stories are told:

“When newsrooms are white-dominated and there is not the diversity that reflects the community or that reflects the demographics or the future of this country even, it means that stories aren’t told truthfully,” says Alicia Bell, co-creator of Media 2070.

Montgomery and many Black journalists report struggling with their mental, physical and/or financial health, highlighting a need for change across the industry.

A trailer for the documentary can be found here. Montgomery, Bell and other reporters are available for interviews.

For more information or to request a screening of Media 2070’s Black in the Newsroom, visit https://blackinthenewsroom.com/.

By Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media

The California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board (RIPA Board) released its annual report on policing in December. It revealed that People “perceived as Black were searched at 2.2 times the rate of people” appearing as White.

Additionally, law enforcement officers in the state searched a total of 6,622 more people perceived as Black than those perceived as White, the report states. Also of note, those perceived to be Black adolescents between 15 to 17 years old were searched at nearly six times the rate of those perceived as White youth.

“In addition to providing a detailed analysis of the policing activities of 58 law enforcement agencies, this year’s report provides much-needed context on the negative physical, emotional, and mental health consequences experienced by students and the broader communities that are most often the subject of those activities,” said RIPA board member Melanie Ochoa, Co-Chair of the Board and Director of Police Practices at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

RIPA Board is a diverse group of 19 members representing the public, law enforcement, and educators. It was formed in 2016 when Assembly Bill (AB) 953, the “Racial and Identity Profiling Act,” was passed. The bill was authored by Shirley Weber, California Secretary of State, when she was an Assemblymember representing the 79th District in the greater San Diego area. The board’s charge is to “eliminate racial and identity profiling and improve diversity and racial and identity sensitivity in law enforcement,” according to language included in AB 953.

“California remains at the forefront of the nation in examining police stop data,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta. “Over the last several years, we’ve collected and analyzed information on nearly 12 million police encounters in our state.”

The current report, sheds light on a study of millions of vehicular and pedestrian stops conducted from Jan. 1, 2021, to Dec. 31, 2021, by 58 law enforcement agencies in California — a notable expansion from the 18 participating agencies documented in the previous report released by RIPA last July.

At the conclusion of a stop, officers are required to report the outcome such as no action taken, warning or citation given, or arrest. For individuals perceived as Black, the 2023 report stated, officers reported “no action taken” approximately 2.2 times as often as they did for individuals viewed as White. The report concluded that there is an indication that a higher rate of those stopped who were perceived as Black were not actually engaged in unlawful activity.

In addition, Black children and adolescents (10 to 14 and 15 to 17 years old) were detained curbside or in a patrol car, searched, or handcuffed during a higher percentage of stops than any other combination of perceived race or ethnicity and age groups.

The report also details that law enforcement officers used force against people perceived as Black at 2.2 times the rate of individuals perceived as White. For those perceived as Latino, officers used force against them at 1.3 times the rate of individuals perceived as White.

Fifty-eight agencies reported over 3.1 million stops during the data collection 12-month study, with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) conducting the most stops of any single agency (54.9%). In addition, individuals perceived to be Hispanic/Latinos (42.4%), White (30.7%), or Black (15.0%) comprised the majority of stopped individuals.

 “Coupled with a strong set of evidence-based recommendations to the Legislature, local jurisdictions, and policing agencies, such as an end to pretext stops and consent searches, our hope is that this year’s report will continue to push California towards building communities that are safer for all,” Ochoa stated.

The Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), a coalition of over 77,000 public safety workers in more than 950 associations, released its own study, which refutes the RIPA Board’s report.

PORAC’s 2023 annual report, “A Critical Analysis” by Dr. Brian L. Withrow, dated Jan. 2, 2023, states that “California is experiencing a public safety crisis” while “law enforcement departments are understaffed, underfunded, and underappreciated.”

 “Unfortunately, California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board (RIPA) has pursued an inherently flawed approach to assessing police stop data that both misrepresents the data itself and misleads the public to believe things that simply are not true,” Withrow said. “Californians deserve appropriate scrutiny of officer behavior, but they also deserve the truth. To do otherwise would only sow further division between law enforcement and the communities they risk their lives every day to serve.”

To date, the traffic stop data made available by the RIPA Board is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive collection effort under which all state and local law enforcement agencies will be required to report to the California Department of Justice by April 1, 2023.

In addition to providing an in-depth look into policing in 2021, the Board’s report lists a wide range of recommendations related to policing, with a focus on the impact of pretextual stops, law enforcement interactions with youth, civilian complaint processes, and training on racial and identity profiling.

The RIPA Board insists that the report is consistent with the disparities observed in prior years’ data with respect to perceived race, gender, and disability status.

“California is leading the nation in its effort to collect data on police-citizen interactions and to foster transparency and make progress towards fair, equitable, effective policing,” said Steven Raphael, Co-Chair of the Board and Professor of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. “Data collected under RIPA provides important information to the public, to legislators, and to law enforcement to guide policy and practice throughout the state.”

For more on RIPA and other criminal justice data, members of the public are encouraged to visit OpenJustice, a California Department of Justice, data-driven public initiative that works to increase access to criminal justice data and support the development of public policy.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA— The City of San Bernardino Building and Safety Division issued
6,093 building permits in 2022, more than any other recent year. The total reflects an increase of 42.6% over 2021, when 4,270 permits were issued.

“These numbers show that people are investing in San Bernardino,” said Mayor Helen Tran.

“There is a great deal of opportunity here and I am glad to see people are taking advantage of it.”

The valuation of the permits issued also jumped significantly, totaling $363,841,706. This represents an increase of 57% over 2021, or a gain of more than $132 million in investment. Also noteworthy is that the building permit amounts do not reflect total project costs. Property acquisition costs and architecture services are not included. Government projects are not included in the total either.

“I expect these numbers to increase further in 2023 despite the national economic headwinds,” said San Bernardino Community, Housing, and Economic Development Agency Director Nathan Freeman. “We have a number of large projects in the queue and our phone continues to ring with developer interest.”

In the short term, the increase in permitted activity will be reflected in an increase of local construction jobs, to be followed by new housing, new shopping options, permanent jobs, local sales tax revenue, and property tax revenue.

Freeman added that San Bernardino is in the process of launching a One Stop Shop to speed up the development process. “This is reinventing our customer service approach to serving residents, contractors, investors, and developers through the entitlement and
permitting process, making it easier to get projects done.”

By Barbara Arnwine

I’ve fought for civil rights my entire career. In fact, in honor of my late mother, Vera Pearl Arnwine, I will tell you that my actual birth was amidst a fight for justice and equality to desegregate a White Hospital that refused to service the African Americans in the nearby community.

After being driven past the White hospital during two previous labors, my mom was determined to force change. She purposefully waited until her contractions were advanced and called the ambulance, which seeing her state, took her to the nearest hospital, the White hospital. When the White nurses tried to refuse service, the examining doctor said it was too late and ordered, “We got to deliver this baby.” Thus, my mom defied the “Whites Only” designation and ultimately won as she gave birth to me, the first Black to force the integration of the now closed Seaside Hospital in Long Beach, California.

Being born a “civil rights protest baby” It is no wonder that I went on to graduate from Duke University School of Law and became president and executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where I served for more than 26 years.

That hospital story, of course relayed to me by my mother, is quite relevant during this season in which we not only celebrate the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. but we escalate our commemoration of Black History. Now, as founder of the Transformative Justice Coalition, I remain keenly focused on issues of justice from every walk of life.

In 2023, one aspect of civil rights and racial justice that barely remains addressed is racial inclusion in media ownership. It’s high time to irrigate that fallow civil rights ground as America’s access to trusted, credible and diverse local and national news sources is the key to democracy. There is far too much misinformation and non-inclusion out there; especially impacting communities of color.

An article by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, headlined, “The Abysmal State of Media Ownership Diversity in America,” says that “Access to the media by the broadest sector of society is crucial to ensuring that diverse viewpoints are presented to the American people, but racial and gender disparities in media ownership that date back to the beginning of the civil rights era continue to persist. Diverse voices in the media landscape help to ensure that diverse topics and perspectives are presented to counter disinformation and misinformation.”

The article continues, “At a time when more people, particularly Black people, are distrustful of the media, diversity in media ownership has become more important than ever for the functioning of our democracy. Diversity in ownership is part of that solution.”

This crucial issue is the reason that my good friends and colleagues in the current civil rights movement are going on the record in support of Standard General’s application before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to acquire TEGNA, a media company which owns more than 60 television stations across the country. Those colleagues include Dr. Benjamin Chavis, president/CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, president/CEO of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. Standard General has a proven record of investing in local news and enhancing diversity with a goal to have newsrooms look like the communities they serve.

Enhancing media diversity is a primary objective at the FCC, but it has a lot of work to do. The FCC just reported that Blacks account for only 3% of majority interests in full-power TV stations with Asian Americans at only 1%. Now it has a chance to really show that it cares about this goal as the Standard General transaction would radically enhance minority media ownership of broadcast channels. Asian-American Soo Kim, Standard General’s Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer, has expressed commitment to helping newsrooms evolve and stay relevant in this age of on-demand content.

One of my primary venues for taking stances on civil rights issues is my 8-year-old radio show, “Igniting Change with Barbara Arnwine,” heard weekly on Tuesdays at Noon on Radio One’s WOL 1450 a.m. During the hour-long show, I have spent much time discussing voter participation and suppression. Based on the questions and concerns expressed by my listeners on the call-in format, it is clear that preserving local news and making it better and more reflective of the changing faces of America will make our democracy stronger and produce more informed voters. We cannot get this done without aggressively irrigating and sowing into the now fallow ground of minority media ownership. This is a goal that we must all share and promote.

Barbara R. Arnwine, Esq, is president & founder of the Transformative Justice Coalition and former president and executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

By Lou K Coleman-Yeboah

Listen, when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, let him that readeth understand, then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains: And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house… And let him that is in the field not turn back. But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! For in the days to come shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be… And if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, He is there; believe him not: For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce. Behold, I have foretold you all things. Take ye heed, watch and pray. What I say unto you I say unto all. [Mark 13].

Wake up! Discern the times. The hour is late! I don’t say that to scare you, but to prepare you. Many of the things that Jesus Himself describe as initial indicators of the last days are happening now. In [Matthew 12], Jesus told us that in the last days there will be people falsely coming in His name, wars and threats of wars, food shortage, earthquakes, and intensified persecution of God’s people, and a mass falling away. And all that Bible Prophecy said would happen, is happening right before our eyes, [Revelation 3:10] and all who are not firmly established upon God’s Word and the righteousness of Jesus Christ will be deceived and overcome. Understand, Satan “works with all power and signs and lying wonders with all deceivableness of unrighteousness” [2 Thessalonians 2:9-10] to gain control of mankind, and his deceptions will increase right up to the very end.

Please surrender your life to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. For we are truly living in the end times now, and as the Bible reveals in [Revelation 12], Satan has come down to this earth with “great fury” knowing that his time is short, and he is using all his power to deceive us and keep us from Jesus Christ.

I tell you; the enemy is approaching! Do not be complacent. We can all see that something is awry in our world. All of the alarm bells are sounding. Even people around the world who don’t understand biblical prophecy can sense something has gone wrong. I admonish you to repent and turn to Jesus Christ before it is too late! Because the final crisis is coming! A man of Lawlessness, the Anti-Christ, the Beast.

“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision.”(Joel 3:14) Are you saved?

By Jaivon Grant | California Black Media

For some, it may be hard to imagine barely escaping alive from one of the biggest mass genocides in world history, or hearing stories about family members who were the victims of a catastrophe of that magnitude. But for Jewish Americans living in California that scenario is a painful and present truth that they live with, respectfully acknowledging and memorializing it every year.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day (IHRD), commemorated yearly on January 27, is a memorial day established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005 to honor victims (and their families) who suffered from the German genocide that lasted more than a decade. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the day of commemoration was established for several purposes. Among them are serving as an official date to honor victims of the Nazi regime and promoting Holocaust education worldwide.

In Jewish communities, January 27 is known as Yom HaShoah. Families and communities will often light Yahrzeit candles — Yahrzeit means anniversary (specifically related to someone’s death) — to honor those who were murdered in the Holocaust. The candle burns for 24 hours, and it is custom to light it at sundown on the day before Yom HaShoah. Occasionally, electric Yahrzeit candles are used as a substitute and are plugged into a wall in places like hospitals, for safety reasons.

In Los Angeles, at the Holocaust Museum LA, visitors can see firsthand artifacts that were personal items from survivors and other memorabilia. This museum, founded in 1961, is the oldest survivor-founded Holocaust exhibit in the United States that is solely focused on the impact of the mass genocide. The experience is free for students, and the museum offers tours, educational programs, and conversations with survivors meant to inspire critical thinking and show the Holocaust’s current social relevance.

Morgan Blum Schneider, Director of the Jewish Family and Children’s Services (JFCS) Holocaust Center, says that she is dedicated to raising social awareness about Jewish history and inspiring social responsibility.

“The JFCS Holocaust Center was founded by Holocaust survivors through perseverance and determination to fight antisemitism. We continue to share their testimony with thousands of students each year,” said Schneider. “This week, in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day and every week throughout the year, the JFCS Holocaust Center works in partnership with CA teachers to bring lessons of the Holocaust and genocide into classrooms throughout California to inspire social responsibility and moral courage in today’s youth.”

The JFCS Holocaust Center is a program of Jewish Family and Children’s Services of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin, and Sonoma Counties. It holds more than 13,000 books and several thousand documents, photographs, and artifacts in the Tauber Holocaust Library and Archives.

For Brandon Brooks, director of California Black Media’s Stop the Hate Project, it is critical for Californians — and all Americans — to recognize and uplift the experiences and perspectives of their neighbors from other ethnic groups. Funded by the California State Library, the Stop the Hate project aims to eradicate hate crimes and hate incidents in the state and promote inter-cultural understanding and cooperation.

“For Black Americans, the way we identify with the horror stories of the Holocaust is immediate and deeply sympathetic. It is a recognition based, in part, on our own collective memory of slavery, exclusion and suffering because of who we are – not what we did – as a people,” he says. “The only way we, Americans from all backgrounds, can begin to do something about the division, misunderstanding and normalization of racial and ethnic hatred that we see trying to flourish in our society is to fight it by learning; push back on it by listening. Get to know about each other’s histories, celebrate each other’s traditions, embrace the things that unite us as Americans and take a hard, uncompromising stance against hatred in any form and the violence it triggers.”

Notably, the dedication to honoring IHRD extends incredibly far beyond California, where there are an estimated 1.19 million people of Jewish descent (about 3% of the state’s population), based on U.S. Census numbers compiled by World Population Review.

According to the Holocaust Encyclopedia, 39 countries participated in IHRD commemorating ceremonies in 2015. Many of those countries hosted lectures, showed films, or lit candles while reading names of the victims. Additionally, many participating countries established their own remembrance days that linked to events caused by the Holocaust.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) — established in 1945 to promote international cooperation through education, science, and culture — has also fought to counter antisemitism and other forms of group-targeted violence.

“The Holocaust profoundly affected countries in which Nazi crimes were perpetrated, with universal implications and consequences in many other parts of the world,” reads the UNESCO site. “As genocide and atrocity crimes keep occurring across several regions, and as we are witnessing a global rise of antisemitism and hate speech, [sharing a collective responsibility] has never been so relevant.”

This California Black Media feature was supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.

NATUNA SEA—Sonar Technician (Surface) 1st Class Zachary Jacoban, from San Bernardino, California, removes chaff shells from launchers aboard Independence-class littoral combat ship USS Oakland (LCS 24) as the ship sails in the Natuna Sea, Jan. 19, 2023. Oakland, part of Destroyer Squadron 7, is on a rotational deployment operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operation to enhance interoperability with partners and serve as a ready-response force in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

By Kara James, Planned Parenthood Los Angeles Nurse Practitioner

January is National Cervical Cancer Awareness Month and a reminder to continue empowering my patients at Planned Parenthood Los Angeles with information about cervical cancer and its impact on their health.

Every 5 minutes, a woman is diagnosed with one of the five gynecological cancers – cervical, ovarian, uterine/endometrial, vaginal, or vulvar – totaling more than 109,000 Americans each year, according to the Foundation of Women’s Cancer. The common narrative around Black women and cervical cancer is that we are “disproportionately” affected by it. The truth is that cervical cancer is one of the most preventable. Still, because of health care disparities, systemic racism, and long-held inequities, it remains life-threatening for thousands of Black women every year.

Usually diagnosed at later stages due to a variety of factors – including lack of information, misinformation, and mistrust of a historically racist medical system — Black women are twice as likely to lose their lives to cervical cancer as non-Latino white women.  Reproductive oppression and medical mistreatment in Black communities have also played a significant role in dissatisfaction with care, ineffective patient-provider communication, and mistrust in providers.

For many Black women, mistrust of the medical system has been passed down for generations, well into the 21st century. These lived experiences have resulted in a deep wariness of preventive medicine and health screenings, including Pap smears. When discussing Pap smears and vaccines as the path to preventing cervical cancer, I empathize with my patients’ fears. Not only do I educate them about the benefit of regular Pap smears, which can detect abnormal changes in the cervix, but I also explain that cervical cancer is caused by a sexually transmitted infection, human papillomavirus (HPV).

HPV is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases. In fact, 80% of the population is exposed to this sexually transmitted infection, without symptoms, either in their throat, anus, or vagina. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HPV is estimated to cause nearly 37,300 cases of cancer in men and women every year in the United States. HPV vaccinations could prevent 92.3 percent of these cancer-causing infections.

The HPV vaccine is recommended starting at age 11 or 12, before becoming sexually active, and can be given as a routine vaccination for people up to age 26 and, in some cases, up to 42 years old. Anyone with a cervix should get regularly scheduled Pap smears as recommended by a health care provider.

Through our work at Planned Parenthood Los Angeles’s Black Health Initiative, we provide patient-centered care in a non-judgmental environment. We believe in providing a safe space to come, talk and learn, in simple everyday terms, about cervical cancer, sexual health, and other issues that impact Black communities.

As a Black nurse practitioner who lives, works and educates in Black communities throughout Los Angeles, I hope my presence helps to decrease the anxiety and fear often associated with medical care and empowers Black patients to seek the information and care they need.

For more information on cervical cancer, HPV, and cancer screenings, or to locate a Planned Parenthood health center, visit plannedparenthood.org.  The new year is the perfect time to focus on your health and schedule a checkup. With the HPV vaccine and routine checkups, we can protect our health and that of other Black women in our lives.

Kara James is a Nurse Practitioner with Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, providing trauma-informed direct clinical care to patients since 2015. As an evidenced-based clinician and activist, Kara’s work is framed through racial equity and anti-racism. She also played a vital role in creating the Black Health Initiative in 2020 to promote holistic well-being and health in Los Angeles’ Black communities.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- Omnitrans CEO/General Manager Erin Rogers has been named “Woman of the Year” by the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) –Inland Empire chapter.

“It is an honor to be acknowledged for my work in the industry I have dedicated my career to and have Omnitrans recognized for the strategic and important work the agency is doing,” said Rogers.

“I am proud of Omnitrans’ initiatives to connect our community, and of our team.”

Rogers was nominated and selected by WTS member voting for her leadership in transit service innovation and effectiveness, and her development of women in key roles. Omnitrans’ senior leadership team is 50 percent female, including the agency’s first female director of maintenance. The agency also partners with WTS on events such Classroom to Career days to expose students to professional possibilities in the industry and build the next generation of transit leaders.

WTS’s mission is to attract, sustain, connect, and advance women’s careers to strengthen the transportation industry. “[Rogers] is inspirational,” said WTS Inland Empire Chapter President Stephanie Blanco.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA— The San Bernardino Black Culture Foundation’s 30^th Black Rise Awards winners will be recognized at the annual banquet on Saturday, February 4 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the California State University, San Bernardino Santos Manuel Statdium located at 5500 University Parkway.

In remembrance of Dr. Margret Hill, the Black Culture foundation has renamed its Margret Hill Community Support Award to the Dr. Margret Hill Black Rose Young Adults Inspiration Award. This award will present scholarships to two inspirational and outstanding San Bernardino Black young adults graduating grade 12 or in college.

“This year’s Award Gala is held to commemorate Rosa Parks’ birthday,” said Black Rose Committee Co-Chair, Jim King.

The San Bernardino Black Culture Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, founded in 1986 to honor and share the richness of our Black heritage, to recognize world diversity and inspire our youth/young adults toward leadership, providing scholarships and career opportunities.

Individual tickets are $75 each. Tables are also available for $600. For more information ob becoming a sponsor or to purchase tickets, go to www.evenbrite.com/e/30th-black-rose-awards-banquet-tickets-491089169927