By Chida Rebecca 

The Netflix series #blackAF?ended its first season this spring, but its episodes live on, accessible to anyone who wants to watch them on the digital streaming service.  

It stars Kenya Barris, creator of critically acclaimed?Black-ish?(and its spinoffs?Grown-ish and Mixed-ish), as a fictionalized version of himself. Barris and his co-stars in?#blackAF uncover the “messy, unfiltered, and often hilarious world of what it means to be a ‘new money’ Black family trying to ‘get it right’ in a modern world where ‘right’ is no longer a fixed concept.”  

In episode two of #blackAF, parents Kenya and Joya (Rashida Jones) decide to attend a festival where they seek to relive their twenties, deciding to go for a Molly do-over after a non-eventful first experience with the drug. 

Though rich in satire, that episode —- like the others — presents 2020’s African American family life as frenzied, hyper-honest and decidedly untraditional.

Maybe #blackAF’s aim is to get as close to reality TV as possible in its spoofing of Black Hollywood’s rich and famous. But even if it is just exaggerating faux-reality, uncensored drug use on the show still raises the question of how much responsibility media companies should bear when they jazz up their story lines with dangerous behavior for the sake of authenticity, comedic relief or dramatic effect.  

“The responsibility we have as Black artists is the same as a doctor, a lawyer, a business leader or educator: To uplift our community,” said Rickerby Hinds, professor and chair of the Department of Theater and Digital Production at the University of California Riverside.  

“And while that may sound like a cliché, it has proven to be the formula for the success of other communities,” said Hinds. “If we continue to “get mine” and get out, then our communities will continue to be the most affected by negative issues.”  

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “[Molly or]?3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine?(MDMA) is a synthetic drug.” 

Initially popular on the nightclub scene, Molly (slang for molecular) is “chemically similar to both stimulants and hallucinogens, producing feelings of increased energy, pleasure, emotional warmth, and distorted sensory and time perception.”?? 

NIDA adds that “MDMA increases the activity of three brain chemicals” by producing increased activity and acts in the reward system to reinforce behaviors (Dopamine); it increases heart rate and blood pressure — which is especially problematic for individuals with heart and blood vessel problems (Norepinephrine); and it affects appetite, mood, sleep patterns, and other functions, triggering hormones that affect sexual arousal and trust. The release of the large amounts of (Serotonin) likely causes the emotional closeness, elevated mood, and empathy felt by those who use MDMA,” the NIDA adds.? 

Molly, the powdery substance, is usually sold in capsules. Sometimes dealers mix in other dangerous drugs like the deadly synthetic opioid Fentanyl, which is also used to lace marijuana cigarettes and other drugs. The death rate from Fentanyl overdoses is rising fastest among African Americans, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). 

Though?blackAF’s?second episode begins with Kenya and Joya’s emphatic opposition to drug use, they end up sauntering into their musical night out – VIP style and high “AF.” The evening culminates with Joya being escorted out of the festival on an ambulance gurney.? 

The show may have been entertaining, but experts say the reality is this: In “real life,” individuals battling depression and desiring escapism can become subliminally intrigued by even lighthearted portrayals of drug use — and they may become curious about its enjoyable effects. 

This is also true for opioid use.  

Because of the increasing prevalence of Opioid use — due in part to people who voluntarily take them at first and then become addicted  — over the last few years, the federal government as well as states around this country and community-based organizations have been placing emphasis on curbing the abuse of that particular class of prescription drugs.  

While media coverage has largely presented opioid abuse a white rural epidemic, it is steadily growing in Black communities both in terms of use and the ways Blacks are disproportionately penalized for use and possession.  

“The impact of opioid use in the Black community has been under-reported,” says Dr. Lenore Tate, a Sacramento-based psychologist who operates a private practice.  

“Although the rate of opioid use is higher for Whites than it is for Blacks, death rates from opioid abuse and overdoses have been steadily increasing in the Black community for the past five years,” says Tate, who has served as a consultant to the California Legislature on public health.  

According to the Addiction Center, Molly has served as a gateway drug for 92% of its first-time users ushering them to using other substances including marijuana, amphetamines, cocaine, and heroin, one of the most well-known opioids.  

Whether it’s MDMAs like Molly; opioids like Percocet, OxyContin or Vicodin — or other harmful drugs, substance abuse continues to rise in the United States.  

Across the United States in 2018, more than 10 million Americans misused opioids, according the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. About 67,000 people around the country died from overdoses.  

In California, there were a total of 2,199 opioid overdose deaths in 2017, according to data compiled by the KFF, the Centers for Disease Control and the National Center for Health Statistics. Blacks accounted for 147 of those fatalities; Hispanics, 483; and White deaths totaled 1,397.  

Opioid abuse also contributes to the high rate of homelessness in California, the highest in the United States, according to the California Department of Public Health.  

With such staggering statistics, shouldn’t the world of entertainment use more discretion with the content it creates??? 

Tate points out that the media may present an image with only “a kernel of truth,” but that may be enough to “subtly distort reality” for some viewers who might associate a specific group with those “shared attributes or characteristics.”  

From negative portrayals of Blacks in America’s first 3-reel silent film, “The Birth of a Nation,” and similarly controversial depictions in 1970s era Blaxploitation films to violent “gangster rap” videos of the 1980s and the reality TV explosion of the 1990s until now, some experts say the media has been a major force in shaping how Blacks are viewed by the American public.  

 “The media has historically had a significant impact in contributing to racism through reinforcing negative stereotypes, glamorizing substance abuse, sexuality and criminal activity,” Tate explains. 

For content creators like Tamera Hill, a San Diego based screenwriter, producer, and director, the power of the creative pen carries a lot of weight and should not be taken lightly. 

 “A writer’s purpose is to persuade, inform, and entertain. I’ve always treated the gift of writing as an oath to God and my community,” she said.  

“We have a plethora of platforms now and our voices can be heard,” Hill continued. “I choose not to waste it on frivolous stories that do not build, encourage, or inspire. Media is a powerful tool. Our words turn into images and affect culture and trends in our community. We are responsible.”? ? 

Instead of leaving the substance abuse prevention messaging to Hollywood, programs like the MAT (Medication Assisted Treatment) Access Points Project are educating individuals about the dangers and prevalence of opioid use.  

The public awareness campaign titled “Choose Change California” provides information on opioid use disorder and a list of centers across the state where people addicted to opioids can go for Medication Assisted Treatment and community-based wraparound services. The campaign is a collaboration operated by Sacramento- and Fresno-based The Center at Sierra Health Foundation and funded through the California Department of Public Health MAT Expansion Project. 

By California Black Media? 

Former California Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, Jr., is not dead.  

On the June 28 broadcast of the 2020 BET Awards, the network included Brown’s image and name in a video montage of famous African Americans who have died within the last year. The tribute included Diahann Carroll, Bill Withers, the Rev. Joseph Lowery, Pernell Whitaker and others.  

“I can confirm that Mayor Willie Brown is very much alive and not deceased,” said Amelia Ashley-Ward, publisher of the Sun-Reporter, San Francisco’s longest running African American newspaper and a California Black Media partner.  

Ashley-Ward said she had spoken to Brown earlier in the evening. He received roughly 200 back-to-back calls after BET aired the tribute, according to Ashley-Ward.  

Brown, 86, still lives in the Bay Area. He served in the California Assembly for a little over 30 years from 1964 to 1995 — 15 of which he was Speaker of that lower house of the California legislature.  

After that, San Franciscans elected Brown mayor in 1995. He served in that capacity until 2004. 

Its more than likely that BET intended to honor one of Brown’s namesakes, another famous African American with California ties: Pro-Football Hall of Famer Willie Ferdie Brown. The NFL cornerback played 16 seasons in the league for the Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders. After that, he also coached the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders from 1979 -1988.  

Coach Brown died in October of 2019 in Tracy. He was 78.   

The headline appeared in the New York Times on June 15, 1974. It described yet another athletic triumph by Jerry Herndon of UCLA — who on the day before had flown 25 feet and 4 ½ inches to a long jump pit in Gainesville, Fla., setting a new record for a meet of the national Amateur Athletic Union. Jerry defeated an Olympic gold medalist on his way to capturing an NCAA title as a freshman that year, engraving his name in track-and-field history just months after arriving in Westwood as the holder of a San Bernardino County record that has stood untouched for two generations.

Forty-five years later, those words sum up the extraordinary life of a man who mastered the recipe for legacy: Building, multiplying, and sustaining family. Creating a community. Inspiring young people and guiding them toward the future. Putting humanity before self, imperfectly but gloriously reaching for ideals that brought joy, knowledge, humor, and understanding into the lives of countless people — one encounter, conversation, or lesson at a time.

Jerry Lyn Herndon, the ninth child of Sidney and Essie Herndon, was born on March 12, 1955. The family left their home in Ada, Oklahoma before Jerry turned 3 — settling in San Bernardino, Calif., where a young Jerry could most often be found having adventures with his brothers Willie and Ruben in the backyard of the family home.

He worshiped at Bethesda Temple Church of God in Christ as a child (where he formed a gospel singing group, the Bethesda-ites, with his brothers and a cousin) and later at Greater Victory Church of God in Christ and Harvest Care Christian Church. When he was growing up, no one was ever turned away from the family doorstep or dinner table — where an extended family and community began growing to untold numbers with limitless reach.

As a child and young man, Jerry was a good student at California Elementary, Fremont Middle, and Cajon High schools — and a standout varsity athlete in track-and-field, football, baseball, and basketball. But it was inside his family’s big, sweet brew of personality, spirituality, and generosity that Jerry honed intellectual, imaginative, interpersonal, and physical gifts that would shape his life and touch the lives of so many others. Whether he was learning about the nature of God from his mother; the meaning of life from his father; the value of solidarity from his brothers; the bliss of charity from his sisters; the power of Blackness from his cousin Maya Angelou; or the urgency of hustle at his Uncle Kermit’s Hollywood shoeshine stand, Jerry absorbed each lesson. And he never hesitated to share his remarkable insights with anyone who had the wisdom to engage him in conversation, or the good fortune to cross his path.

After an outstanding stint at UCLA as a superstar athlete, campus government leader, and graduate in a major of his own creation, speech communications, Jerry could have gone anywhere to do anything. His decision was to return home to San Bernardino — where he excelled at media while working in the publisher’s office at the San Bernardino Sun, politics while mounting an underdog campaign for City Council, and most importantly, fatherhood as a loving Dad to eight children: Andre (Loretta), with his high school sweetheart, Desiree Brock; Keyva and Daphne (Adonis), with his wife Katherine Miller; Amber (James), Sidney (Jenna), and Briana (Nathan) with his wife, Gena Talley; and Ardena and Khloe, with Toni Irvin. He was immensely proud of his 15 grandchildren: Kyrah, Kareem, Gary, Dominick, Marley, James, Asyah, Zane, Apollo, Aurora, Wyatt, Atlas, Layla, Ace, and Maverick.

His brilliance as a leader of young people was encapsulated in the professional role that defined the best years of his life: Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of San Bernardino — where Jerry mentored, counseled, motivated, and watched over a generation of children and teenagers coming up in the same neighborhood that served as his launching pad. For a decade-and-a-half under his leadership, 1180 W. Ninth Street was a place where anyone who needed to hear “yes” could make a friend, get a job, eat a meal, join a team, play a sport, and find an opportunity. You could dazzle crowds as a member of the Pacesetters. Get tutored in math, English, science or history after school. Learn tennis, swimming, modeling, martial arts, boxing, and art at Summer Day Camp. Take trips to campgrounds in Mammoth, NFL playoff games, the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, Neverland Ranch, and every amusement park within bus ride distance. Feel human and connected at a time when too many Black and Latino young people were being discarded by society, disregarded by the establishment, and dehumanized in popular culture. His mission was to give a sense of belonging to each person who entered those doors, in hopes that they could leave with the tools and resources to follow their dreams, conquer any demons, and put goodness into a world that needs it. Though his service at the Boys & Girls Club ended, his humanitarianism never faded — in 2020, he was still actively organizing health fairs through his church, and independently providing food and clothing to people who were experiencing homelessness in his neighborhood.

In his time, Jerry’s eyes stayed on tomorrow. His optimism never wavered. His heart never shrank, his soul was never bound, and his spirit always flew free. He was forever ready to start something new — and in his mind, humanity was always on the cusp of new discoveries, stronger justice, and better unity.

That was his frame of mind when he departed this life on June 14, 2020. His loss is monumental — but the memories created and the legacy built will be passed down through the oral tradition that meant so much to him, and have impact through the ages.

Beyond his children, Jerry is survived by his brothers Sidney Frederick Herndon (Hazel), Myles Edward Herndon, and Byron Duryea Herndon (Regina) sisters Beverly Ann Martin, Evelyn Margie Tahiru, and Ida Ruth Martin (George). He was preceded in death by his beloved parents Sidney and Essie and brothers Brent Astaire Herndon, Freddie Lee Herndon, Willie Cullen Herndon, and Ruben Coleman Herndon. He will be remembered by innumerable nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends who loved him like family and received that love in return.

Jerry Lyn Herndon is an ancestor now. His destiny fulfilled and eternal rest well-deserved, he is now with the Heavenly Father who breathed life into him and placed him at the center of our lives.

Be at peace, good buddy.

The minority community’s relationship with the medical and scientific world has not been built upon trust. This is particularly true with African Americans. Brutal and unethical historical practices in medicine subjected African American bodies to dissection and autopsy material without their consent. 

In addition, sterilizing Native American women without their consent, and the infamous Tuskegee syphilis experiment, led to a justifiable fear and luck of trust by people of color regarding clinical trial participation in the U.S.Recent publications have also indicated African Americans are overly represented in experimental and procedural studies that did not require informed consent. 

These are studies conducted under emergency situations when subjects cannot make an informed decision. Part of the explanation given was that African Americans represent the largest proportion of geographical catchment in areas where such experiments are done. These are primarily in inner city metro areas where academic medical centers are located. On the contrary, African Americans constituted less than 5% of patients in cancer-related clinical trials that led to 24 of the cancer drugs approved between 2015 and 2018. The underrepresentation of African American in oncological clinical trials extends to cancers that have higher rates of occurrence in the African American community. 

If we follow the same logic for studies that did not require consent, studies on medical conditions that affect African Americans at a disproportionately higher rate (like multiple myeloma) should have a proportionate or higher ratio of African American subjects in the clinical trial.

The system is not serving justice and must change. Clinical trials can provide earlier access to care options that can prolong life and prevent disease. Opinions differ in terms of the benefit of vaccines to society. I strongly believe in the positive impact of vaccines. The world eradicated small pox and controlled polio, measles, yellow fever, pertussis, etc., with vaccine intervention. We must remember how human health was affected in the pre-vaccine era, when millions died with each major epidemic.

I grew up in a developing nation where infectious disease accounts for the majority of preventable deaths. I witnessed first-hand the impact of mass vaccination. I cannot imagine what the population demography would have looked like if public health was not armed with mass vaccination strategies for major childhood illnesses. As we progress in the fight against COVID-19, a safe and effective vaccine would give us the means to resume normal life.
Vaccine trials will show the result of preventing disease, or modifying the course of a disease, in a population that has the highest burden of disease.

People at the highest risk of the disease – like healthcare workers, frontline workers, and African American and Hispanic communities – must be included in the study design that identifies requirements for participating in the trial. But protocols will not increase participation in the study unless the trust and fear barriers for clinical trial participation are addressed.

When it comes to COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials, early educational intervention to the underrepresented African American and Hispanic communities can improve the knowledge gap. Logistical factors that will curtail access to clinical research sites have to be considered. For example, trial managers should think about creating access to transportation, or taking clinical trial sites to where the target cohorts reside.

While building trust takes a long time, involvement of non-medical community leaders to champion care in their respective communities will have a positive influence. Primary care physicians who have longstanding relationships with communities should be involved in recruitment and the explanation of research protocols as they have built rapport with their communities.

Having quantitatively and qualitatively proportionate racial, cultural, and ethnic representation on the team of clinical investigators – and among the teams who monitor the observance of rules of clinical investigation – can couple with a compassionate support staff during clinical trials to improve the trust factor. While medicine is a universal human science that assumes each of us should have commitment and care based on our common humanity, historical reasons in America have made race a major factor in care delivery. As such, we must bridge the gap so the community that needs care the most can benefit from early clinical trials and scientific progress to change the course of COVID-19 pandemic.

Jeffrey Cyr wheeled his white Honda sedan into a parking space near a microbrewery and a taco joint at a strip mall here around midday recently. Instead of food, jobs were on the menu.

As more businesses are permitted to resume operations around the U.S., employers are plotting fresh rehiring strategies, such as the curbside job fair in Grand Rapids that attracted Mr. Cyr and his girlfriend, Hannah Vruggink.During the parking-lot screening, the couple and other job seekers sat in their cars and provided recruiters, wearing face masks, with basic information for possible callbacks on a range of jobs in light industry and those requiring skilled labor.

It is an example of how social distancing, needed to stem the coronavirus pandemic, is altering job recruitment.

“Everybody knows how to do the curbside food now, so the idea is to take the concept and apply it to what we do,” said Janis Petrini, owner of the local franchise of the placement agency Express Employment Professionals, which organized the modestly attended job fair.

After she talked with Mr. Cyr, a part-time welder who is 20 years old, and Ms. Vruggink, who is employed at a superstore, Ms. Petrini said Ms. Vruggink, who is also 20, could be a good fit for receptionist work or on an industrial assembly line. “We can find you something better than what you have right now,” said Ms. Petrini. A day later Express lined Mr. Cyr up with a full-time welding position, he said.

Labor Department data don’t yet show much sign of a rebound in job postings, with April’s approximately 5 million listings down from around 6 million in March and lower by 2.2 million than a year earlier. Workers filed 1.5 million new unemployment claims for the week ended June 13, and 20.5 million people were receiving benefits during the prior week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

By Jake Pickering

The Northern California town of Fort Bragg is in desperate need of a name change ASAP!  Sure, there will be some relatively minor expenses for residents from the municipal name change, but the cost of keeping the town’s current obnoxiously racist name will be far greater.

First of all, no self-respecting Californian could ever possibly justify or countenance any town or city in the Golden State being named after Confederate General Braxton Bragg, who was not only a traitor and a slaveowner, but an especially intemperate and incompetent military commander as well.  That name is nothing to brag about, Fort Bragg.

Secondly, why would any patriotic American want to set foot in a town named after an anti-American racist traitor to the republic, like Braxton Bragg?  Thankfully, Mendocino County has other equally picturesque communities to visit and spend our money in as tourists.

Too bad, Fort Bragg, but you’re not getting another dime from me until you change your town’s name!  Here are some non-Confederate, pro-American options for you.  Please feel free to choose any one of these as your town’s new name:

1. Fort Lincoln
2. Fort Grant
3. Fort Sherman
4. Fort Roosevelt
5. Fort Eisenhower
6. Fort Patton
7. Fort Marshall
8. Fort Bradley
9. Fort Kennedy
10. Fort Powell

SACRAMENTO, CA— With Tax Day approaching, the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) today offered key tips to help Californians prepare their taxes before the July 15 filing deadline.

COVID-19 Relief: FTB is providing special tax relief and assistance for taxpayers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic through July 15, which is the deadline for all Californians to file and pay taxes owed. Visit FTB’s COVID-19 frequently asked questions page for more information on collections relief, extensions for filing/paying taxes, the federal CARES Act, and more.

“During this public health emergency, we are doing everything we can to make California taxpayers aware of free tax preparation assistance and other available resources ahead of the July 15 deadline,” said State Controller and FTB Chair Betty T. Yee. 

California’s Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC): If you are 18 or older, work, and have low income, you may qualify for CalEITC. Between CalEITC and the companion federal EITC, low-income families can boost their refund by thousands of dollars. Anyone earning $30,000 or less may qualify for CalEITC of up to $2,982. Those earning $55,952 or less may be able to receive the federal EITC of up to $6,557. Learn more about these valuable credits.

Young Child Tax Credit: The Young Child Tax Credit was introduced in tax year 2019. If you qualify for CalEITC and have at least one child under the age of 6 as of the end of the tax year, you may qualify for $1,000 through this credit.

Free Tax Help: Most Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) locations are closed during the pandemic. However, there are a limited number of locations around the state that continue to operate. Visit the IRS’ Get Free Tax Prep Help page frequently for updated information on available sites and hours.

More than 6.4 million taxpayers are eligible to file their state tax returns online for free using FTB’s fast and easy CalFile program. CalFile allows taxpayers to file directly with FTB and provides instant confirmation. Registration is not required to use CalFile and taxpayers are able to claim both CalEITC and the new Young Child Tax Credit using the program.

FTB also has a list of other free online tax preparation options.

Tax Filing Extension: California taxpayers get an automatic extension to file state tax returns until Thursday, October 15, although tax money owed must be paid or postmarked by Wednesday, July 15. Those unsure of whether they will owe money can consult FTB’s Tax Calculator.

Pay Online: Taxpayers can pay online with Web Pay directly from their bank accounts with no fees. Payments can also be made with MasterCard, VISA, American Express, or Discover for a service fee of 2.3 percent.

Get Help Paying Taxes: FTB recommends that taxpayers file returns on time and pay what they can to avoid penalties and interest. Payment plans are available for taxpayers experiencing a financial hardship. Those who owe $25,000 or less and can repay within five years generally qualify.  

Check Refunds Online: Taxpayers who already filed their state return and are expecting a refund can use the Check Your Refund Status tool. FTB also provides this service in Spanish. 

Access Your Account: The MyFTB account service allows taxpayers to view their tax documents, check balances due, access tax calculators, send secure messages to FTB staff, and more.

Get Questions Answered: FTB’s Live Chat allows taxpayers to ask an FTB representative general tax questions and get help with FTB’s website in real time. Live Chat is not a secure channel; do not offer personal information such as Social Security numbers or bank account information. Taxpayers also may call FTB at 800-852-5711.

On June 18, the United States Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The renewable federal provision allows people who were brought illegally to the U.S. as children to defer deportation and receive legal permission to work, study and live in the United States. 

“Congratulations to DACAmented immigrants for this historic win,” said Nana Gyamfi, Executive Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), a national advocacy organization that pushes for fair immigration policies. According to BAJI’s website, the group stands up for the rights of African, Caribbean and other minority immigrants across the United States; and stands with African Americans in the fight for racial justice. 

“This moment would not have happened were it not for the Black uprisings that have centered Black lives in this country,” Gyamfi continued. “This decision is a welcomed reprieve for DACA recipients and a call to action in support of Black Liberation. There are no permanent protections for any immigrants until African American human rights and dignity are protected.” 

The court decided by a 5-4 vote that the Trump administration had not provided “a reasoned explanation for its action,” according to the majority opinion written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts. 

California has played an integral part in the fight to keep the DACA program. Regents of the University of California were the defendants in the Supreme Court case, and the California Department of Justice led a coalition of 21 attorneys general in defense of the program. 

“The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the University of California and the California Attorney General’s challenge against the Trump Administration’s capricious action is a victory for hundreds of thousands of young people who are making vital contributions to their families, schools, employers, and the nation,” said University of California President Janet Napolitano. 

“Today, America told the Dreamers that this is their home,” said CA Attorney General Xavier Becerra in a June 18 statement. “The highest court in our land saw through the Trump administration’s illegal, baseless excuses. The Court agreed: if you work hard and play by the rules, you deserve a chance to get ahead.” 

According the National Immigration Forum, about 653,000 “Dreamers,” undocumented immigrants who came into the U.S. as children, are currently protected under DACA, with over 200,000 recipients residing in California. The average DACA recipient arrived in the U.S. at age seven and has lived in the country for more than 20 years. 

The Supreme Court decision comes at a time when Dreamers are facing heightened hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Center for American Progress, 202,500 DACA recipients are on the frontlines of the nationwide COVID-19 response. Most of these recipients are essential workers in healthcare, education, and food-related industries.

As the list of higher education institutions apologizing for their role in the slave trade grows it is time investing in historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) institutions is prioritized. Democratic presidential candidates increasingly acknowledge the need to study the question of reparations. Ta-Nehisi Coates fastidiously establishes “The Case for Reparations” in a 2014 Atlantic Magazine article and environmental justice expert, Mustafa Ali, advocates reinvestment in underserved communities to ensure a just transition to a clean energy economy. 
Today, the top five well-endowed institutions that benefited from slavery possess collective endowments in excess of 100 billion and the total for the richest twenty exceeds 200 billion. The combined total for all 100 HBCU endowments is slightly more than two billion and not a single HBCU possesses a billion-dollar endowment.

Comparatively small investment from the endowments of institutions that benefited from slavery can help to restore HBCUs as anchor institutions. Collaborative research initiatives focused on closing persistent gaps would set the stage for deeper equity commitments. Financing infrastructure projects will dramatically reduce deferred maintenance, cut energy and operating costs and will generate a return on investment with enormous social, environmental and economic dividends.

Fifty years of targeted efforts have failed to close the educational achievement gap between black and white students. In the absence of a concerted effort on the part of academia to deconstruct racist pseudo-scientific rationales woven into the American fabric for four centuries, disparities are likely to persist unabated.

Recent research, most notably Craig Steven Wilder’s Ebony & Ivy, documents the significant contribution that enslaved people and the slave trade made to the development of virtually all of the oldest and most well-endowed higher education institutions. According to Wilder, “the first five colleges in the British American colonies-Harvard, William and Mary, Yale, Rutgers … were major beneficiaries of the African slave trade and slavery.”

Two hundred years after the founding of Harvard the first HBCUs were established to educate former slaves and their descendants. Remaining true to their mission, today black colleges educate a disproportionate share of low-income and first-generation college students. HBCUs also play a critical role in deconstructing ideologies that perpetuate systemic racism that undergirds health, education and wealth disparities.

Apologists for slavery seldom accept responsibility for deconstructing lingering misconceptions about race that negatively impact blacks and other people of color. Conversations about the wealth gap have yet to explore the impact of endowments in exacerbating the gap. Instead of exploring opportunities for leveraging and sharing wealth, elite institutions publish public apologies, rename buildings and provide scholarships for direct descendants of individual slaves. While commendable, these acts suggest narrow individual impact rather than collective disadvantage experienced by an entire community. With all of the attention on expanding wealth inequality, examination of the role of endowments remains muted.

Observing that, “wealth begets wealth,” noted minority-serving institution scholar Marybeth Gasman finds that racism plays a role in the expanding endowment disparity. According to Gasman, Black colleges are not trusted to manage funds and this depresses giving. Endowment size is considered an important measure of institutional wellbeing and institutions with small endowments are considered weak with limited ability to support operations.

Just because elite institutions declared African peoples as less than fully human, profited from their sale and labor, justified and promulgated racist ideology that clearly disadvantaged an entire race, does not obligate the sharing of wealth. Rather, it is enlightened self-interest that should inspire action.

Increasing access to the highest quality education, disseminating proven sustainability strategies and elevating the standard of living especially for the most vulnerable should be shared goals for all of higher education. Working in partnership with HBCUs and leveraging the power of endowment investment, American higher education can usher in an era of change defined by improved quality of life for all. This approach will also help to end the myth of black inferiority by eradicating educational achievement gaps.

Investing in historically black colleges and universities is possibly the most socially responsible investment that well-endowed institutions can make, especially those that profited from slavery.

We have all heard alleged stories of famous couples’ volatile relationships: Ike and Tina; Bobby and Whitney; Chris and Rihanna; Mike and Robin; Thomas and Juanita; or Ray Rice and Janay Palmer. These couples suffered through alleged perpetrations of violence and abuse in the public view. 

But in private, every day, throughout California — and now more than ever with the slow-easing social isolation orders brought on by the COVID-19 global pandemic — we find families are forced to spend more time together than ever before. Stuck in their homes, facing an uncertain future, watching news stories of chaos in the streets, we hear countless stories of couples who say they are feeling irritable, crowded, alone, isolated, helpless, or afraid. 

Partners are finding themselves in close proximity to each other, some worrying about finances, others increasing alcohol and drug use. Many couples and families are in crisis. In fact, the National Domestic Violence Hotline (2020) has reported that abusers are using the COVID-19 crisis as an excuse for isolating domestic abuse victims from friends and family. 

According to the California District Attorney’s office (2008): Domestic violence involves or may include: physical abuse, repeated psychosocial abuses, social isolation, intimidation, or economic coercion. Whether you are a teen or an adult, rich, poor, middle class…gay, straight, or transgender…regardless or your race, your gender, your religion, or status in your community, domestic violence can impact your life. Whether you are dating, married, or in an “intimate” relationship, you may become a victim of domestic violence. 

Domestic Violence is a pattern of behavior used to establish power and control over another person (Duluth Project). Typically, abusers physically hit, kick, or push their victim or their victim may be sexually abused and/or psychologically or emotionally abused. During this period, victims have reported being blamed for giving the virus to family members, threatened to be kicked out of the house, or not allowed to seek medical treatment for themselves or loved ones. 

Whether the perpetrator is using intimidation, making light of the ill treatment, or shifting responsibility, saying, for example, that the victim’s behavior caused the violence, these are all examples of abuse in relationships. 

Research has illustrated that person-directed violence is taught at home and learned at a very young age (Anderson 2004). We have learned that children who see their parents and other adults in violent relationships, they often become victims or aggressive in their own lives. The goal in any domestic violent relationship is to stop the violence and control your own behavior. 

Oprah said (March 2009), “If he hits you once, he will hit you again.” I think that for most victims, be they men or women, they just cannot believe that the person, who they love, can hurt them. They cannot believe that they have been belittled, made to feel less than who they are. 

They cannot believe that the person who they placed their dreams in, who they believed that they would walk down life’s road with, would treat them with less respect than a random stranger. 

However, as hard as it may be to believe, the facts do not lie and without extensive intervention, rest assured, the abuse will happen again. If experiencing this, make the call for help to: the Domestic Violence Hot Line at: 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-799-SAFE or 1-800-VICTIMS.