Frost & Sullivan, a research and consulting firm, said the award was for Uniphore’s innovative approach towards customer needs in the development and support it provides in its conversational service automation platform using Artificial Intelligence.
The award is the result of an independent, non-sponsored evaluation by Frost & Sullivan’s analyst team.
Uniphore is a conversational service automation platform, which allows customer service agents of enterprises to automate tasks, and provides features like virtual assistants and voice biometrics.
“Because of the pandemic, enterprise automation has really accelerated the transformation of enterprise conversations, with a specific focus on customer experience,” said Umesh Sachdev, chief executive officer and co-founder of Uniphore.
“To solve some major challenges and eliminate customer frustration across the board, we know that AI-driven conversational automation is the key.”
“Frost & Sullivan is a leading analyst firm that has expertise and experience in this space to truly understand what businesses need to succeed,” Sachdev said.
“It is an honor to be recognized by them for our innovative solutions and hypergrowth, and we look forward to continuing to change customer service for the better.”
“By leveraging facial emotion recognition and sentiment analysis, Uniphore will be able to enhance video engagements that have become so prevalent in the COVID and WFH-era,” according to thestatement released by the company.
Uniphore acquired Emotion Research Labs in Jan this year to include emotion AI for its products. Emotion Research Lab is a software developer that uses AI and machine learning to identify emotion and engagement levels in real-time.
The company had said the acquisition would expand Uniphore’s global footprint and European-based presence. Uniphore plans to expand into additional European countries in Fiscal Year 2022.
In March, Uniphore raised $40 million as part of its Series D funding round, which U.S.-based investment firm Sorenson Capital Partners led.
“Uniphore has been at the forefront of conversational automation for years and continues to impress,” Nancy Jamison, Industry Director, Information & Communications Technologies at Frost & Sullivan, said.
“Following a challenging year across the board for businesses, customer service, and employee experience, Uniphore has set a stake in the ground with its vision for conversational process automation by honing in on the ways that humans communicate and building solutions to improve that communication.”
(With inputs from ANI)
(Edited by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and Praveen Pramod Tewari)
SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- On Saturday, June 26, 2021, Café Organix celebrated it’s one year anniversary. The vegan café is co-owned by NBA legend and retiree, John Salley. Their products are primarily made in-house with organic ingredients. “Expect a well-seasoned and tasty vegan cuisine. We will play with the menu to figure out the favorites and the foods we are good at making,” John Salley explained.
In addition to offering drinks and eats, Cafe Organix also stocks frozen packaged goods, tea blends, candles, and other products! There is an art gallery inside the cafe that features new local artist each month. The café also hosts regular events for the community.
Café Organix is located at 420 E Hospitality Ln Suite A10, San Bernardino, CA 92408
WASHINGTON — Fired African American election officials in Georgia have backed U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s move to sue the state over new voting laws Democrats have compared to Jim Crow.
Democratic elections board members told Zenger that they were fired as soon as Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed a new law that he said was about “election integrity,” but which opponents have called racial voter suppression.
Garland announced last week that the U.S. Department of Justice was bringing a federal lawsuit against the Georgia Election Integrity Bill.
It contains a series of measures passed by the state House and Senate and signed into law by Kemp on March 25, and which was originally known as Senate Bill (SB) 202.
Among its most high-profile measures are a ban on distributing water to voters waiting in line and stripping Georgia’s secretary of state of many of the office’s powers to oversee elections.
The current secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, certified Joseph R. Biden’s narrow win the November presidential election in the face of claims from then-President Donald J. Trump and his supporters of widespread fraud, none of which have been proven in court.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the lawsuit against Georgia at the Justice Department on June 25, accusing it of suppressing African American voters. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images).
Democrats say the legislation was prompted by those fraud claims and by racial animus after a record turnout in the state by African American voters, thanks to intensive organizing by Stacey Abrams, the party’s failed 2018 gubernatorial candidate. Biden called the act “the new Jim Crow.”
Republicans, including Kemp, say the Jim Crow claims are a smear and that the act is intended to “make it easy to vote and hard to cheat.”
Another provision hands control of local boards of election to county commissioners, instead of members being appointed by both parties. It is the part of the act which has had the most immediate effect.
A series of African American elections officials have told Zenger they were fired from local elections boards as soon as the law came into force, and said they believe they were purged for their race and their party affiliation.
“I was the newly elected chair of the Spalding County Board of Elections and I was removed without cause,” said Vera McIntosh, 80, who had served on the board since 2019. McIntosh said she lost her job as soon as Kemp signed the law but did not learn about her removal until the board’s next meeting on April 21.
Vera McIntosh was newly elected to chair the Spalding County Board of Elections but was fired when Georgia’s new election law came into effect. (Courtesy of Vera McIntosh)
Largely rural Spalding County, population 64,073, in west central Georgia, voted for Trump 59.9 percent to 39.1 percent.
“The board was very non-partisan with two members appointed by the Democrats, two appointed by the Republicans and then the four would select the chair,” she said.
“I think what has happened to me is absolutely against my constitutional rights. We tried to function as a non-partisan group. We tried to do the right thing,” said McIntosh, adding that she and other elections officials joined meetings via Zoom to get through the pandemic.
In addition to McIntosh, other Georgia elections officials who have been removed include Helen Butler, who was one of the five members of the Morgan County Board of Elections for more than a decade, said she had been targeted.
Butler, 72, an African American appointed by the Democratic Party to the role, told how she was removed as soon as the new law allowed the county commission to replace its members.
The 19,276-population county in northeast Georgia voted for Trump 70.3 to 28.6 for Biden.
“First they removed my entire board, that had two Blacks and three whites,” Butler said.
“Then they brought back the chairman and one Black. So now there are four whites and one black on the board. Because of SB 202 you can only remove four people at a time.”
Also removed from the board was Avery Jackson, another African American Democratic appointee.
Butler is the executive director of the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, which was started by the Civil Rights campaigner Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery. She said regardless of the outcome of the federal lawsuit she is in this battle for the long haul.
Helen Butler was one of the five members of the Morgan County Board of Elections for more than a decade, and fired because, she said, she was an African American appointed by the Democratic Party. (Courtesy of Helen Butler)
“We are going to continue to educate voters and find people to elect who will do the right thing,” she said. “People are making the connection between lawmakers who want to do the right thing versus those who don’t.”
In west central Georgia’s Troup County, population 67,044, Trump won 78 to 22.
Lonnie Hollis, Vice-Chair of the Board of Elections, who is a Black Democratic appointee, will be fired along with the rest of the board by January 1, 2022, and replaced by a new board appointed solely by the Republican-controlled county commissioners.
“I think it is a blow against Black people,” Hollis told Zenger.
“I have been on the elections board since 2013, and I am the only third Democrat to be on the board,” she added. “They want to get rid of me because I talk, and I am outspoken. I was put on the board by the Democratic Party.”
Hollis said she hoped to see the Justice Department lawsuit succeed.
“I just want the lawsuit to get rid of these Jim Crow tactics. I grew up in LaGrange, I moved away but then I came back to Georgia in the early 1970s. These people think that they can do anything, because the Blacks don’t complain,” she said.
Lonnie Hollis, Vice-Chair of the Troup County Board of Elections, said the entire board will be removed on January 1, 2022, and says it is “a blow against Black people.” (Courtesy of Lonnie Hollis)
Garland cast his lawsuit as the first of many he expects to bring to uphold voting rights in the face of what Democrats have said is an attempt to suppress their voters.
“This lawsuit is the first step of many we are taking to ensure that all eligible voters can cast a vote; that all lawful votes are counted; and that every voter has access to accurate information,” said Garland in a statement.
Kemp called the attack “lies” and linked it to the failure of Democrats so far to pass the national Senate Resolution One on voting rights and elections reform which Republicans filibustered earlier this month.
Kemp said: “This lawsuit is born out of the lies and misinformation the Biden administration has pushed against Georgia’s Election Integrity Act from the start.”
“Joe Biden, Stacey Abrams, and their allies tried to force an unconstitutional elections power grab through Congress — and failed. Now, they are weaponizing the U.S. Department of Justice to carry out their far-left agenda that undermines election integrity and empowers federal government overreach in our democracy.”
The decision by Garland to sue Georgia first emphasizes the ferocity of the political battle over the state, which had last voted for a Democrat for the White House in 1992.
For decades the real power base in Georgia was not Atlanta — where a large number of African Americans live — but it in the smaller counties which are heavily white and held by Republicans.
But there was a shift during the 2020 elections because more minorities have moved to counties beyond Metropolitan Atlanta. Democrats and African American voting rights groups see the shifting demographics as one of the reasons for the new Republican electoral law.
Melanie L. Campbell, President of the National Coalition of Black Civic Participation, backed the Justice Department stepping in.
Demonstrators were outside the Georgia Capitol building to oppose the state’s new voting laws in March as they were passed, with the fight now moved to the courts. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)
“There are attacks against voting going across the country and what is going on in Georgia is really egregious. Prior to the law there were two Republicans and two Democrats [on each county BOE]. The new law allows one party to control who sits on the board.
“Our voting rights are being attacked by autocracy and not democracy.”
But African American Republicans say Democrats are wrong to attack the electoral law.
Raynard Jackson, a Republican activist who is African American, said that the lawsuit should be thrown out because “there is not one mention of Black folks Georgia it applies to everyone.
“If there was a Beyoncé concert and Pooky and Raheem were picking up tickets, and they received an email that the concert was canceled, don’t you think that they would pick up the phone and verify this information. They can do the same thing in terms of voting,” Jackson said.
“I still support a two-party system, but the Democrats must think that Blacks are too stupid and can’t follow the rules on how to vote. This is insulting.”
The Coca-Cola Co. has pledged to almost double its ad spending with minority-owned media, the latest in a wave of major companies responding to pressure — and a $10 billion lawsuit — over how they allocate such dollars.
Atlanta-based Coca-Cola North America said in June its ad spending with such companies will be five times higher than in 2020, with 8 percent of its total annual media budget will be allocated to black, Hispanic and Asian American and Pacific Islander-owned media by 2024.
Other major corporations have made similar pledges in recent weeks. Twenty companies — including Uber, General Mills, Adidas, Tyson Foods and Target — signed on to GroupM’s Media Inclusion Initiative, pledging in June to commit 2 percent or more of their total annual media budgets to black-owned media.
In addition, McDonald’s Corp. announced in May it would bring its national ad spending with black-owned media up 2 percent to 5 percent between 2021 and 2024, and with black, Hispanic, Asian American and Pacific Islander, LGTBQ and woman-owned media up to 10 percent over that stretch.
And a month earlier, General Motors announced a five-point action plan to alter how it deals with “diverse-owned and diverse-targeted media,” including bringing its ad spending with those companies up to 2 percent by 2021, up to 4 percent by 2024 and up to 8 percent by 2025.
General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra addresses a press conference of corporate leaders speaking out against racism and injustice at City Hall in Detroit, Michigan, on June 3. In her statement, Barra committed to inclusion and condemned intolerance. (John F. Martin/General Motors)
“There are a couple of forces at play right now helping to increase ad spending for black-owned media companies,” Keonte Coleman, assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Strategic Media at Middle Tennessee State University, told Zenger.
“The racial reckoning taking place across this country has made social justice issues a higher priority for Fortune 500 companies. Black-owned businesses have a consumer base that’s paying attention to how these companies are addressing systemic inequities through their social responsibility policies.”
Daphne Dickerson, brand and business communications lead with The Coca-Cola Co., told Zenger it is acting now because “in previous years, we focused more on minority-targeted media companies to reach diverse consumers, but as we learned through a thorough analysis of our media mix, our consumer targets continue to evolve, and to be effective and efficient with our spend, we need to invest in both minority-owned media and minority targeted media.”
Sarah Bobas, head of marketing communications North America for GroupM, told Zenger a 2 plus-percent goal “is significant and an achievable target for our clients based on the inventory available” from private industry. Like Dickerson, Bobas declined to quantify how much that is in dollars because it would reveal confidential budget information.
The pledges come, in some cases, after a public calling-out of companies over their practices. In April, music mogul Sean Combs wrote “If You Love Us, Pay Us: A letter from Sean Combs to Corporate America,” which particularly criticized General Motors for spending only an estimated $10 million of its $3 billion ad budget on black-owned media.
An open letter to General Motors from the leaders of seven black-owned media companies that appeared in major newspapers.
Combs’ essay came after seven leaders of black-owned media companies took out a full-page ad in March in the Detroit Free Press and other newspapers that stated GM spends less than 0.5 percent of its “billions in advertising” with black-owned media, a level GM disputes. The seven executives — Byron Allen of Allen Media Group LLC, Junior Bridgeman of Ebony Media, Todd F. Brown of Urban Edge Networks, Ice Cube of BIG3 and Cubevision, Earl “Butch” Graves of Black Enterprise, Don Jackson of Central City Productions and Roland Martin of Nu Vision Media — distinguished black-owned media from black-targeted media “because minority includes white women, and large corporations like General Motors can hide behind and tout their minority records while continuing not to do business with Black Owned Media Companies.”
The ad called for a Zoom meeting with GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra, and not Chief Marketing Officer Deborah Wahl, owing to her previous tenure at McDonald’s.
A McDonald’s restaurant in St. Petersburg, Florida. (McDonald’s Corp.)
The fast-food giant came under criticism in May over its ad spending with black-owned media in a different newspaper ad that called for a meeting with president and CEO Chris Kempczinski. The same day the ad appeared in the Chicago Tribune and Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Studios and Weather Group LLC, divisions of Allen Media Group, filed a $10 billion lawsuit against McDonald’s.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, charges racial discrimination in contracting, stating that the company spends less than $5 million of its $1.6 billion TV ad budget with black-owned media. The lawsuit asserts McDonald’s places Allen Media Group’s networks and platforms, including The Weather Channel, Comedy.TV and Cars.TV, outside of its “general market” advertising tier. Instead, according to the lawsuit, the Allen Media channels and platforms are relegated to the much-smaller tier reserved for black-targeted audiences, although many of their offerings are for general-interest audiences and compete with white-owned media.
“This is about economic inclusion of African American-owned businesses in the U.S. economy. McDonald’s takes billions from African American consumers and gives almost nothing back. The biggest trade deficit in America is the trade deficit between White corporate America and Black America, and McDonald’s is guilty of perpetuating this disparity. The economic exclusion must stop immediately,” Allen said in a statement.
The company denies it is being discriminatory when it comes to such spending.
“McDonald’s does not tolerate discrimination in any part of our business, and these unfounded allegations are inconsistent with our values and belied by our actions,” the company told Zenger. “We remain committed to doing our part to advance the growth of diverse-owned media, which is why we joined with our franchisees to increase our spend with diverse-owned partners from 4 percent to 10 percent, and with black-owned media from 2 percent to 5 percent of total national advertising over the next four years. As we defend against this lawsuit, we will continue to collaborate with diverse-owned partners that keep the brand at the center of culture and create deeper relationships with our customers, crew and employees.”
Middle Tennessee State University’s Coleman said “the fact that prominent black media moguls like Byron Allen have taken their concerns public has placed more pressure on Fortune 500 companies to support black-owned businesses and causes through public statements or financial contributions.”
SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- Founded in San Bernardino, California in 2002, and expanded into the Bay Area in 2018, Time for Change Foundation’s (TFCF) mission is to empower disenfranchised low-income individuals and families by building leadership through evidence-based programs, and housing to create self-sufficient, and thriving communities.
Academy Award winner Taraji P. Henson will direct Academy Award Winner Jennifer Hudson in ‘Pepcy & Kim,’ a part of Iervolino Entertainment’s star-studded anthology project ‘Tell It Like a Woman’.
This project is seen by the non-profit as a means to expand on their mission. “If Kim could do it, so can other women,” says Time for Change Foundation Executive Director Vanessa Perez, “Kim Carter’s life story will inspire women as it speaks to our mantra, ‘we call it home, others call it hope.'”
As told by Variety Magazine, Hudson, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Effie White in 2006’s ‘Dreamgirls,’ will take on the role of both Pepcy and Kim in the piece, which is inspired by Kim Carter, a former addict who rebuilt her life, founded Time for Change Foundation, and has helped over 1,700 homeless women achieve self-sufficiency, while reuniting over 300 children with their mothers.
Andrea Iervolino, who founded the production company, said: ?”This trio is a marvelous compliment to the spirited filmmakers and talent banding together for this one-of-a-kind film, and their sincerity in delivering a ‘must see’ segment is simply moving. “We can’t wait to show this film to the world.”
Catherine Hardwicke, best known for her directorial efforts ‘Thirteen,’ and ‘Twilight’ has penned the segment—one of seven made by and about women that will make up one film, featuring the likes of Eva Longoria, Cara Delevingne, Margherita Buy, and Marcia Gay Harden.
‘Tell it Like a Woman’ producer Chiara Tilesi—founder of non-profit film production company We Do It Together—added: “‘Tell It Like A Woman’ has been a very long journey, almost six years producing this film, and we couldn’t have asked for a better ending segment in ‘Pepcy & Kim’….”
“I’m still amazed how God could take my pain and use it for my purpose to help so many others,” says TFCF Founder Kim Carter, “It’s a blessing!”
SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- Each Sunday morning Wallace Allen and Guest host Tammy Martin Riles discuss hot topics on KCAA 1050 AM Radio during the “Empire Talks Back” (ETB) broadcast. This coming Sunday they will celebrate the 4th of July with hot pizza slices!
“We will give free pizza slices from 10 AM to 11:30 AM to the first fifty listeners who stop by the KCAA Radio Station! Says Allen, the host of the 30-year-old ETB radio show. We are featuring slices from Chef Raheem’s “Pies On The Flyy” Food Truck! He and his family can quickly produce a variety of both Vegan and non-vegan pizzas in their portable clay oven. “
The KCAA radio station is at 1378 Industrial Park Ave. in the Burlington Mall east of Alabama street, one block south of the 10 freeway. You are encouraged to “Begin the 4th of July with a slice of pizza pie!
By Stephanie Fox, Navy Office of Community Outreach
NEWPORT, R.I. – Lt. Ruben Gutierrez, a native of San Bernardino, California, joined the Navy as a way to gain valuable life experiences around the world and continue the family tradition of military service.
“I come from a family of veterans,” said Gutierrez. “A Navy recruiter had come to my school and asked if I’d thought about joining the Navy. He told me they had a really cool rate that were like military police officers who could drive small, fast boats and shoot guns.”
Now, 18 years later, Gutierrez serves as the security officer for Naval Station (NAVSTA) Newport, located in Newport, Rhode Island.
“I’m in charge of force protection and protecting the installation,” Gutierrez said. “I make sure we are properly manned, trained and equipped to defend the installation.”
Growing up in San Bernardino, Gutierrez attended San Gorgonio High School and graduated in 2003. Today, heuses the same skills and values learned in San Bernardino to succeed in the military.
“Growing up, I learned to appreciate loyalty and resiliency and that’s what got me through my younger years,” Gutierrez said.
Those lessons have helped Gutierrez while serving at NAVSTA Newport.
Home to 50 Navy, Marine Corps Coast Guard and U.S. Army Reserve commands and activities, NAVSTA Newport’s mission is to fulfill the diverse requirements of its tenant commands by providing the facilities and infrastructure that are essential to their optimum performance.
Thousands of students pass through NAVSTA Newport’s on-base schools from all parts of the United States and many free nations around the world. These schools include the Navy Supply Corps School, the Center for Service Support, the U.S. Marine Corps Aviation Logistics School and the prestigious Naval War College. For this reason, the base is the Navy’s premier site for training officers, officer candidates, senior enlisted personnel and midshipman candidates, as well as testing and evaluating advanced undersea warfare and development systems.
With more than 90 percent of all trade traveling by sea, and 95 percent of the world’s international phone and internet traffic carried through fiber optic cables lying on the ocean floor, Navy officials continue to emphasize that the prosperity and security of the United States is directly linked to a strong and ready Navy.
According to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday, four priorities will focus efforts on sailors, readiness, capabilities and capacity.
“For 245 years, in both calm and rough waters, our Navy has stood the watch to protect the homeland, preserve freedom of the seas, and defend our way of life,” said Gilday. “The decisions and investments we make this decade will set the maritime balance of power for the rest of this century. We can accept nothing less than success.”
Serving as a sailor and contributing to the Navy the Nation needs requires a combination of dedication and sacrifice, but Gutierrez believes the accomplishments achieved along the way make the hard work worth it.
“It makes me proud every time I’m able to re-enlist one of our outstanding sailors,” said Gutierrez. “It’s a highlight of my career every time.”
As Gutierrez and his fellow sailors continue to train and carry out their assigned duties, they take pride in serving their country in the United States Navy.
“It’s an opportunity to do my part to make a better future for both my family and my country,” added Gutierrez.
Watching your tax dollars, elected officials and legislation that affects you.
June is Pride Month and lawmakers in California are advancing a number of bills to make life safer and less difficult for people who are LGBTQ+.
Some of the proposed laws aim to address challenges that impact various segments of the African American LGBTQ+ community — either directly or circumstantially.
The first is Senate Bill (SB) 357. If the Legislature approves it, the law will repeal California Penal Code Section 653.22, which penalizes loitering with the intent to engage in sex work. This particular bill, if approved, supporters say will significantly reduce the risks and dangers many LGBTQ+ people at the lowest ends of the socioeconomic ladder face. Many of them are young people who turn to sex work because of a number of reasons, including being unsupported by their families or the social structure because of their sexuality; trauma brought about by sexual or physical abuse; drug addiction; unemployment, among other factors.
Based on English Elizabethan “poor laws,” loitering laws in America were developed as a part of the Black Codes in the late 1800s as a means to arrest Black people in order to sell their labor in a practice called convict leasing.
“These laws were created to eradicate us,” said Dr. Jon Paul Higgins, a California-based social justice advocate and writer who is African American.
“So, when you talk about the importance of repealing these laws, it’s not even just about the law, it’s about getting to the root of what’s creating these laws,” Higgins explained.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, “many persons who exchange sex may have a history of homelessness, unemployment, incarceration, mental health issues, violence, emotional/physical/sexual abuse, and drug use.”
In California – and across the United States — a disproportionate number of African Americans are impacted by those challenges — all of them considered social determinants of good health by Public Health professionals.
Because of the vagueness of these loitering laws, many critics have noted that they gave police a wide range of arresting powers to target “undesirables” like Black people and people in the LGBTQ+ community,” Higgins explained.
California State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), author of this bill, says it would help make the streets safer for sex workers who are a part of a marginalized community.
“Sex workers are workers, and they deserve respect and safety,” Wiener said. “We must work toward a future where people — especially the most marginalized — aren’t criminalized because of who they are and what they look like. Anti-sex workers loitering laws are deeply pernicious, and they need to be repealed.”
SB 357 also allows those convicted of California Penal Code Section 653.22 to seal their records.
SB 357 was passed by the Senate Public Safety Committee 4-1 and has now been referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Another bill concerned with safety is Assembly Bill (AB) 1094 which would require the State Department of Public Health to establish a 3-year pilot program in up to 6 participating counties to collect gender identity and sexual orientation data in violent death cases in order to get more accurate data about hate crimes.
According to the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations 2019 Hate Crime Report, Black people accounted for 9% of the county’s population but 47% of the total racial hate crimes.
The report also stated that 2019 saw a 64% increase in hate crimes targeting trans people, many of which were Black or Brown, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
“Yet another year with alarming levels of bias-motivated crimes underscores just how urgent it is to address this hate crimes epidemic,” said Alphonso David, Human Rights Campaign President. David is the first African American to lead the organization, the largest advocacy body for LGBTQ+ people and issues in the United States.
“This year, we saw a tragic new record of fatal violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people in this country, particularly against Black and Brown transgender women,” he said.
Following the Stonewall riots in New York, Black trans women like Marsha P. Johnson and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy became influential figures in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights at the time when discrimination and hate crimes against people like them were much more commonplace.
Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno), author of AB 1094, explained why he feels the bill is crucial.
“I deeply appreciate the overwhelming support that my Assembly colleagues gave today to AB 1094,” Arambula said in a statement. “This legislation may be centered on data, but its purpose encompasses compassion and empathy to better understand what is happening in our LGTBQ+ community — particularly among the youth — when it comes to violent deaths, including homicide and suicide. AB 1094 is an important and humane step in ultimately preventing these deaths.”
AB 1094 has passed in the Assembly and is now on its way to the State Senate for consideration.
Senate Bill (SB) 379, which has now been referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee, would ensure the University of California Health System [UC Health] only contracts with healthcare facilities that provide LGBTQ-inclusive healthcare services, such as gender-affirming and reproductive care.
According to Blue Cross Blue Shield, Black mothers have a 3 times higher maternal mortality rate and a 2 times higher morbidity rate than white mothers while Black men are 70% more likely to die from a stroke as compared to non-Hispanic White men.
People in the LGBTQ+ community are less likely to have access to competent healthcare, largely due to issues with discrimination, according to Cigna.
Higgins spoke from personal experience about the intersectional nature of being both Black and in the LGBTQ+ community.
“For me, being a Black nonbinary person and meeting a provider who has all of these bias ideologies or stereotypes about Black people… there are all of these preconceived notions about who I am as a Black person and then you add on the nonbinary-slash-trans part of it, there’s just a lot of underlying stereotypes and bias,” Higgins said.
Jasmyne Cannick, founder and CEO of Empowerment Justice Strategies, praised this bill for moving with the tides of progress.
“In 2021, it makes absolute sense for UC Health to contract with healthcare facilities that provide LGBTQ-inclusive healthcare services given the population that it serves,” Cannick said.
“We are moving towards a more inclusive society and these are the types of bills that will ensure that members of the LGBTQ+ community can receive healthcare they need,” she continued.
Higgins, Cannick and other advocates say it means a great deal that California lawmakers are making an effort to ensure that these “warriors” can continue to do so safely, and that those who just wish to live their lives without fear for being who they are may do so more boldly.
CRAFTON HILLS, CA—- Recent Crafton Hills College (CHC) grad Alexander Manjarrez has been awarded a $5,000 scholarship from Southern California Gas Company.
Manjarrez is one of the 2021 scholarship recipients of Southern California Gas Company, which selects high achieving graduating high school seniors and transferring community college students with scholarships from $1,000 to $5,000. To qualify, students must live within the SoCalGas service area, maintain a GPA of at least a 3.0 and demonstrate strong community involvement, among other criteria.
“SoCalGas believes that a well-educated workforce makes good business sense and is essential for a vital and economically healthy Southern California,” said Regional Affairs Manager Robert Visconti, who also serves on the College’s Foundation Board of Directors.
In his scholarship application, Manjarrez outlined his future educational and career plans and the need for the scholarship to continue his education. He said the pandemic had significantly impacted his family, slashing their collective income by 25 percent. Manjarrez put his studies first, although doing so interfered with his ability to continue helping his father manage Rainbow Board and Care, an assisted living facility that was also impacted by COVID-19.
“I stopped working with him so I could focus more on my studies,” Manjarrez said. “It will be tough for me to go back and help him run his business since I will be focusing on my upper division course work at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) in Fall 2021.”
Manjarrez is goal-oriented when it comes to mapping out a plan for his studies. His long-term goal is to earn a Master’s degree in computer science at UCR and work as a software developer while continuing to do research on tech-related topics. He also wants to work in a field where he can construct large software systems, something that drew him to his major.
“Research is something that has resonated with me ever since I enrolled at CHC,” Manjarrez said. “I conducted research on image blurs for DEKA, company that specializes in complex problem-solving, and I learned how to run algorithms on MATLAB and met the company’s expectations.”
“Research has taught me that being an effective researcher means being passionate, knowledgeable and prepared,” he said.
Southern California Gas Company is focused on promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Energy Education to improve and support educational opportunities and workforce development in their communities.
When LeBron James won his first NBA championship with the Miami Heat in 2012, a reporter asked, “How do you feel?” James answered, “It’s about damn time.”
Those same words could well have been uttered more recently by Bob “The Greyhound” Dandridge. The former Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Bullets [now Wizards] great had to wait three decades before finally being elected last month to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. His resume was sterling: He won NBA titles in Milwaukee and Washington, and he played with four previous greats whom he helped earn their first or only championships.
“It’s a shame that it took 30 years for Bob Dandridge to be voted into the hall of fame,” said Charlie Neal, the longtime signature voice of Historically Black Colleges and Universities sports for Black Entertainment Television (BET) and ESPN. “I’m glad the veterans committee made up for the sportswriters’ mistakes.”
Dandridge’s omission from the sportswriters’ ballots remains a mystery — why they consistently overlooked the 13-year veteran who was a two-time world champion and an HBCU legend. His distinguished resume also includes four All-Star Game appearances, 15,530 points, 5,715 rebounds, and 2,846 assists.
“For me, it’s more about enjoyment,” said Dandridge, 73, as he counts down to the induction ceremony on Sept. 11, when he will be enshrined along with 15 others. “There has been no point during these 30 years I haven’t felt anything less than being a champion or hall of famer. I have never felt like I didn’t deserve to be in the hall of fame.”
Dandridge was one of the most versatile performers in the history of the game. He averaged 18.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists while playing alongside transcendent performers throughout his career. His teammates in his first seven years in Milwaukee were legends Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He capped his career in Washington playing alongside Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes. All preceded him into the hall of fame.
“Some [basketball experts] have compared him to [Los Angeles Clippers forward] Kawhi Leonard because he was only 6-foot-6-inches and played a mid-range game that was off the charts,” said Carl “Lut” Williams, an HBCU sports historian and publisher of the Black College Sports Page.
If he had been on lesser teams, Dandridge would probably have been a prolific scorer and more of an icon or celebrity. However, he may not have been a two-time champion. That was the motivation from the lessons he learned starting in high school and through his time playing at Norfolk State University.
“I learned to be a champion while playing at Norfolk State from coach Ernie Fears,” said Dandridge, who played for the school from 1965-69. “Championship character was built from running four miles a day for two months and still going into the gym and practicing for two-and-a-half hours every day. That’s where champions are made. They aren’t made through the sport itself but through intangibles such as work ethic, integrity and self-confidence.”
The legend of Bob Dandridge still resonates at the university and throughout the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Before integration allowed the best black athletes to compete at majority colleges, the CIAA was arguably the most talented conference in America. Many great players from cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington D.C., migrated south to play college basketball in this segregated intercollegiate crucible of the game because they were denied access from 1940 to 1970.
That conference also produced hall of fame coaches such as John McClendon. Known as the father of fastbreak basketball, and Clarence “Big House” Gaines, who at one time was the winningest coach in the game’s history.
There were hall of fame players such as Sam Jones of the Boston Celtics who was a part of their early NBA dynasty under venerable coach Red Auerbach. Al Attles, coach of the first Golden State Warriors championship team in 1974, played at North Carolina A&T. Harlem Globetrotters clown prince and dribbling wizard Curly Neal from Johnson C. Smith University They are also members of the distinguished basketball alumni from the CIAA.
Dandridge earned his place among the conference of HBCU basketball legends from that league for his performance in the 1968 CIAA Championship Game. NSU defeated North Carolina A&T 134-132 in three overtimes, with Dandridge scoring 50 points, making 20 of his 26 shots and going 10-of-11 from the free-throw line in an era where there was no three-point shot.
“During that time, the competition was great,” Dandridge said. “The CIAA got the best of the best from the high schools up and down the East Coast. It may not have been the best conference in America, but it was certainly in the top 10.”
The CIAA has produced contemporary legends such as Hampton’s Rick Mahorn, who was a part of the Detroit Pistons’ first edition of the “Bad Boys” championship teams in 1989. Then there’s Charles Oakley, who had a storied career with the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks. Dandridge will be joined by Ben Wallace — who also won an NBA Championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004 — and played college basketball at Virginia Union of the CIAA as a member of the 2021 hall of fame class.
“The style of basketball that was played in the CIAA back in the day is the style of play in the NBA today,” said Black College Sports Page’s Williams. “Watching the Duke and North Carolina teams on TV in the ’60s, there was no comparison to me.”
Dandridge was initially drafted by teams from both pro basketball leagues at the time. The battles for prime talent between the fledgling American Basketball Association (ABA) and the NBA were heated, and he was right in the middle of it. However, it was always his dream to play in the NBA and the Bucks made it come true.
“Milwaukee gave me the opportunity and I embraced it — and the city embraced me too,” Dandridge said.
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