Those who’ve begun returning to the office report many companies have stepped up cleaning protocols, but some aren’t bothering to screen employees for Covid-19 symptoms.    

That’s according to a recent Gallup poll of almost 2,000 employed respondents. Results indicate precautions employers are taking to slow the spread of Covid-19 in the workplace vary significantly.   The findings come as cases of the novel coronavirus rise in many parts of the U.S., with all states in some phase of reopening following spring lockdowns. 

As Gallup has tracked worker attitudes and behavior related to Covid-19, it’s recorded a seven-percentage-point increase between mid-April and late May in workers saying at least some employees at their workplace have returned to the office.   

In May, one-third of respondents said all or almost all of their colleagues were back at the office. About 70% of workers said their employers are on top of new or more frequent cleaning protocols in the workplace, 58% said their employers consistently provide personal protective equipment and 54% said a six-foot distance between employees or employees and customers is routinely enforced, per Gallup.   

But just 41% said their employers consistently screen workers for cough or fever, and 39 percent said their employers never conduct symptom checks. Of the precautions mentioned, 20% to 33% said they sometimes happen in the office.  

By Lou Yeboah

Why do they hate us so much?  Why do white people despise blacks? Why is it that they find it easy to look at us with disgust and undermine our humanity? In pondering and crying out to God for answers, this is what I heard in my spirit: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. This happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.” As sure as day follows night, a world at war with God will hate, persecute, ostracize and even kill God’s people. “They will hate you because they hated Me, and the servant is not greater than the master; and because you no longer belong to the world’s system; and because of their benign ignorance of My ways and will; they hate you for it as they did Me.” And just like the Jews, they think that they have ample justification for their hatred, but they do not. Hatred caused them to treat Me cruelly; spitting and slapping My face, mocking, ridiculing and scoffing at Me, and eventually killing Me. All without cause.  People hate what they don’t understand. You are loved and you are hand-chosen by the Lord, and you are not understood by the people among whom you dwell; God has made you to be strangers, set apart by the Most High by a divine choice to be his own peculiar favored people. A special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers. They hate you without a cause!

“Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. Because you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

Hated Without A Cause!

Scripture Reading: [Deuteronomy 7:6-11; Deuteronomy 14:2 1 Peter 2:4-5; 1 Corinthian 1:26-30; Titus 2:14; John 15:18-27; John 15:18-25; 1 John 3:13].

By Derek Major

Several descendants of women who played “Aunt Jemima” are speaking out against the Quaker Oats food company’s decision to rebrand its Aunt Jemima breakfast line.

According to The Blaze, Larnell Evans Sr. believes Quaker Oats, which owns the brand, is trying to rewrite history. Quaker Oats announced last week that it will rename and rebrand the line due to the “racial stereotypes” it portrays.

“This is an injustice for me and my family. This is part of my history, sir,” Evans said. “The racism they talk about, using images from slavery, that comes from the other side — white people.”

“This company profits off images of our slavery. And their answer is to erase my great-grandmother’s history. A Black female,” Evans added. “It hurts.”

Evans’ great-grandmother, Anna Short Harrington, replaced the original Aunt Jemima, Nancy Green, a former enslaved woman, as the face of the Aunt Jemima brand in the early 1920s.

“She worked for that Quaker Oats for 20 years. She traveled all the way around the United States and Canada making pancakes as Aunt Jemima for them,” Evans explained.

“This woman served all those people, and it was after slavery. She worked as Aunt Jemima. That was her job,” he continued. “How do you think I feel as a Black man sitting here telling you about my family history they’re trying to erase?”

Evans is not the only descendant of a woman who played Aunt Jemima that was upset by the news. According to a New York Post article, Vera Harris said her family takes pride in Quaker Oats scouting her second cousin Lillian Richard to be a representative of the brand in 1925.

Harris added Richard worked for the company for 23 years, traveling the U.S. as Aunt Jemima to serve pancakes until she had a stroke.

“She was considered a hero in [her hometown of] Hawkins, and we are proud of that. We do not want that history erased,” Harris told the Post. “She made an honest living out of it for a number of years. She toured around Texas,” Harris added, noting there “wasn’t a lot of jobs, especially for Black women back in that time.”

The news of the change by Quaker Oats has led to other brands, including Uncle Ben’s Rice, to review changing their names.

“SHOW & TELL: A Story of Our Ancestors Freedom Fight”! Please take a moment out of your to walk through history. Our goal is to educate and bring awareness to ALL. These exhibits will be impactful and will tell the story!

Dates: July 4th and 5th from 11 am to 3 pm

Social distancing will be set in place and Masks will be required for safety.

Participating Agencies:

• YouthBuild Charter School – Africa American Icons
• Southern California Black Chamber of Commerce ICC- Before Black Wall Street the story Estonville
• Westside Story Newspaper – Liberation through Black Media
• T’ana Phelice Productions – short skit ‘The Only Tired I Am’
• LUE Productions – musical timeline of music that helped our people sustained through dark times.
• African American Mental Health Coalition – Methods of treatment provided for Africa American Woman with mental health
• Music Changing Lives – When the 4th of July was Black
• Purposely Awaken – (Liberation through Black Media Media in conjunction with the Westside Story Newspaper
• Off The Chain Alliance – The Discrimination and elimination of African American Hair
• Uniteee – Born Guilty a as look at incarceration and social inequality
• 320 Premier Event Hall – Event Sponsor 
• Painter Maurice Howard
• YWE Young Woman Empowerment – Human Trafficking Awareness -Social and Emotional barriers that prevent young women from achieving their Aspirations
• We 3 Productions – Isolation Concentrations: Under the Boabab Tree

Want to participate as an exhibitor or volunteer? Please call 888.466.7408 ext 11 cell 909.566.1000 or email Lue@Blackchamberofcommerce.org.

Free admission for unique community experience; donation to local food banks encouraged

ONTARIO, CA—- Are you tired of streaming videos and binge-watching old sitcoms? Are you longing for a good old-fashioned movie experience? 

The City of Ontario, Ontario International Airport (ONT) and Street Food Cinema have a deal for you – a series of free drive-in movies, displayed on two 50-foot screens with digital sound fed directly into your vehicle via FM radio signal. “Drive-In Movie Nights at Your Airport” will take place over four different nights through July at Lot 5 on the northeast corner of the airport property.

The series will premiere on Friday, June 19, with – appropriately enough – “Ford v Ferrari,” a major portion of which was filmed at ONT. It will be followed by a showing of “The Sandlot” on July 3, “Princess Bride” on July 17, and “Napoleon Dynamite” on July 31. Showtime for all four nights is 8:30 p.m. 

“Drive-In Movie Nights at Your Airport” is a collaboration between the City of Ontario, ONT and Street Food Cinema, a Los Angeles-based creative marketing and events company which has produced outdoor movies since 2012. The movie series is designed to bring neighboring communities together while providing critically needed support to local food banks. To that end, movie-goers are encouraged to bring donations of canned or boxed food.

“The drive-in movie experience is something so many of us remember fondly, and the City is proud to be able to offer these events to our community in light of what we’ve all been through as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a wonderful opportunity for movie-goers to enjoy a night out with their families and watch a film from the comfort and safety of their vehicle,” said Dan Bell, Communications & Community Relations Director for the City of Ontario. 

The City of Ontario and ONT both have a rich film tradition, with movies such as “Argo,” “Catch Me If You Can,” “A League of Their Own” and “Up In The Air” among dozens of features that have been shot here.

“When you think about all of the films and TV shows that have featured ONT, it’s the perfect backdrop for our ‘Drive-In Movie Nights’ program. Providing this kind of opportunity for our community and region is just one of the ways we can say thank you for the support we’ve received since our return to local ownership,” said Atif Elkadi, Deputy Chief Executive Officer for the Ontario International Airport Authority.

Movie-goers are asked to reserve their spot by visiting: https://ontmktg.info/ONT-Movie-Night-1. Food will be available for sale from several vendors, including Poutine Brothers, the Grilled Cheese Truck, After’s Ice Cream and My Delight Cupcakery.

As California goes, so does the nation.  

You’ve probably heard that cliché many times before. It certainly rings true for Juneteenth.  

The state of California  started recognizing Juneteenth or Black “Freedom Day,” marking the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, back in 2003 as an official state observance. That was 17 years before Juneteenth became a household word across the United States this year.  

On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger led troops into Galveston, Texas, to announce the end of the Civil War and to let enslaved people in that

town know that nearly 250 years of slavery was finally over. They were now recognized as free people.  Thousands of African Americans in that former Confederate Gulf Coast town had not yet heard that more than two years before on January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation. That document officially granted them their freedom.  

“Four hundred years, African Americans have fought through struggle and oppression only to rise to the occasion and be the creators, inventors and leaders of society,” said the Rev. Shane Harris, a San Diego based civil rights leader, reflecting on the history behind the holiday.  

In the wake of the brutal murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who Minnesota police killed last month —  and amid the global protests his death has sparked — there were more Juneteenth celebrations across California than ever before in history. The commemorations took on especial significance as Californians up and down the state paid homage to the suffering and triumphs of African American history in the United States.  

“Juneteenth is Freedom Day and a cause for celebration,” said Assembly member Shirley N. Weber (D-San Diego, chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus. 

On Friday night in Sacramento, Weber, other members of the California legislature, and people from all walks of life, watched from the lawn of the  California Capitol as the building’s famous dome lighted up in Red, Green and Black. African Americans use those colors to symbolize the pain and the richness of the African American experience and the African heritage of Black people in the United Sates.  

 “What is encouraging is the renewed interest in Juneteenth by young people. I think it is this moment where they recognize their power to make change. The message of Juneteenth is especially salient in the context of the current protests over ongoing and persistent brutality and inequity in the lives of Black Americans,” said Weber.  

American ideals promise equality, but have yet to fulfill that promise. By lighting the State Capitol in red, black and green, the California Legislative Black Caucus demonstrates its commitment to making that promise a reality in California,” she said.  

Across the country, more and more, businesses  — including Nike, Target and Spotify —have started to consider Juneteenth a paid holiday. 

And as social and recreational venues began to open across the United States, Californians last weekend  organized events for an all-American holiday celebration throughout the state. 

There were marches for justices in San Francisco, Oakland, Fremont, Pittsburg, Palo Alto and Santa Clara that ended up with political rallies. Some events featured live performances, food and other entertainment.  

In Sacramento, the California Black Agriculture Working Group held an event at Cesar Chavez Plaza called “2020 Sacramento Juneteenth, Dia De Los Negroes.”  

According to their Eventbrite page, the goal of the event was to educate Californians about “the unique legacy of ‘Slavery in California’ our journey towards freedom and ongoing systemic impacts from ‘America’s Peculiar Institution’ here in the Great State of California.” 

Beginning last Friday, Californians have been joining other Americans around the country for a Juneteenth Online Festival, which will run through June 28,  2020. The U.S. Census Bureau is participating in the national virtual festival to raise awareness about this year’s census count.  

“This online festival is something for the history books,” said Betty Williams, president of the Sacramento NAACP branch and U.S. Census Bureau Sacramento area partnership specialist.  

“I think the first ever Juneteenth Online Festival will create a huge amount of curiosity, which will equate to a large interest from the Black community, resulting in a successful event,” she said before the event kicked off last week.  

From June 13th, the San Jose/Silicon Valley-based African American Community Service Agency has been hosting  their 39th annual Juneteenth In The Park Festival entirely online for the first time in its history.  

The festival featured African American art, a Black hair session and a live virtual musical performance by Neo-Soul singer Anthony Hamilton. He headlined the online event.  

In San Bernardino, The Dino Can and the M.U.D.A.Foundation, local grassroots community-based organizations, teamed up to organize a “community-centric” event on June 19 called “Feed The Dino.” It featured free food, music and entertainment and was held at Perris Hill Park in San Bernardino.  

Lexi, one of the founding members of the activist and art collective Kawaii Killas, expressed the importance of her organization’s involvement in the San Bernardino event. 

“Feed The Dino is an event me and Kawaii [Killas] are very excited to be a part of because in a city that is in the top three most dangerous in America, we are bringing light and joy to our city,” Lexi said. “We are serving the people that have paid their dues and maybe even fell victim to our streets. Feed the Dino is retribution to our people. The things everyone deserves: community, food and life.” 

Lisa, another founding member of Kawaii Killas, highlighted the need for a celebration in these turbulent times. 

“To me, Juneteenth means resting your soul just for a second,” Lisa said. “Just a day. Freedom, sweet but short lived in realization.” 

While Freedom Day is a celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation, many California organizations are reminding policy makers that there is still a civil rights movement for Black lives that has not seen its end. 

For those still wary about gathering in public on the 19th, the South LA/South Bay African American Infant and Maternal Mortality Community hosted a virtual Freedom Day celebration that that featured Dr. Sayida Peprah, a Los Angeles-based psychologist as the keynote speaker.  

Like the state Capitol, San Francisco and San Diego counties lighted their administration buildings, too. Swaths of red, green and gold light shone against the white exteriors of those local government centers.  

“Tonight we accomplished lighting the San Diego County Administration Building in honor of Juneteenth,” says Harris. “We are part of creating a new narrative.” 

“But we must move from just illuminating buildings on the outside to going inside of them to address the inequities facing African Americans,” he said.   

SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- The year 2020 marks the start of a new decade and it signals change.  More and more parents of Latinx high school students want their children to succeed and they seek the help of role models in their communities to aid their children to go to college. The 36^th Annual Inland Empire Future Leaders Program (IEFLP) aims to meet that need by offering leadership development, cultural pride, and educational awareness to Latinx eighth- and ninth-grade students from schools representing San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, and Los Angeles counties.

IEFLP’s goals are to motivate Latinx students to graduate from high school, strive for academic excellence, become leaders in school, and in their communities, and eventually, earn a college degree.  In addition, participants will receive leadership training, financial literacy information and will learn communication skills which are emphasized in combination with cultural pride workshops.

115 Latinx eighth- and ninth-grade students are confirmed to participate in the 36th annual IEFLP conference. Amid the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and in order to protect the wellness of the students, staff volunteers, and conference presenters IEFLP has deemed best to host the entire summer conference via an online platform. Students who do not have access to electronic devices and/or reliable internet connection will receive support from IEFLP. This year’s program will be held from June 17, 2020, to June 19, 2020. 

IEFLP seeks to create a meaningful and enduring virtual connection amongst the delegates (a name used to address the participants of the conference). Dr. R.C. Heredia, an alumnus of Colton High School, UCLA, and Pepperdine Univ. and chair of the IEFLP Board of Directors alongside with Vanessa S. Ibarra, Esq., an alumna of California State University, San Bernardino and Loyola Law School and this year’s IEFLP Executive Conference Director, acknowledge that “now more than ever, our community will need continuing education, guidance, and uplifting support from one another to persevere during this unprecedented difficult time.” According to Vanessa S. Ibarra, Esq., “IEFLP will empower the next generation of future leaders that will shape reforms to uplift our community.”

IEFLP will offer a network with IEFLP alum and college students throughout the country, provide exposure to role models, and allow students to connect with high school students throughout Southern California. Role models like the 2019 recipient of the IEFL Art Arzola Scholarship ($1500) Mariah Grajeda, 2019 valedictorian of Middle College High School and current student at UCLA. Grajeda, along with the rest of the 100% volunteer staff, has helped make IEFLP a special experience for all delegates. Rodolfo Monterrosa, Esq., is another conference participant from the 1988 IEFLP, currently a public defender and immigration attorney at Monterrosa Law. “Rudy” is a native of Bloomington where he was the valedictorian of the class of 1991. He graduated from Stanford University and Notre Dame Law School. The delegates will receive mentorship and guidance from successful Latinx individuals like them. 

In the past, delegates who benefitted from the experience have expressed their gratitude to IEFLP. Arturo Rodriguez, 2009 delegate said, “The program encouraged me to follow my dreams and never give up. It sparked my interest in becoming a public servant and serving the Latinx community in any way, shape, or form. This program gave me the necessary tools to become a leader in my community and strive for change.” Additionally, Dr. R.C. Heredia, a 1992 conference delegate, said, “Having experienced this program as a high school student, I learned the leadership tools that have helped me to succeed in high school, at UCLA, in graduate school, and in my career. The confidence in myself and the network that I developed from my experiences with IEFLP was instrumental for me in earning a doctorate degree.”

Over 4,400 students have participated in the program, which commenced in 1985. The program’s popularity and effectiveness among students, parents, educators, and community supporters can be shown from yearly surveys since 1990, which indicates that 99 percent of student participants graduate from high school and 90 percent attend college. For the past thirty-five years, Inland Empire Future Leaders has helped many of its delegates attend and graduate from: Harvard, Notre Dame, Pepperdine, Stanford, UCLA, USC, UCR, UCSB, UCSD, CSUSB and the list goes on and on. Many of the conference’s delegates have gone on to become: lawyers, teachers, doctors, professors, filmmakers, journalists, and even congressmen (U.S. Members of Congress Pete Aguilar and  Dr. Raul Ruiz)!

This year’s conference will be dedicated to Judith Segura-Mora, an alumna from the original IEFL conference in 1985.  Judith has volunteered her time and energy for the program since the 1980s and currently serves on the Board of Directors. Funding for the program is provided through individuals, community groups, businesses, foundations, school districts, and government agencies. IEFLP encourages you to visit our website at www.iefl.org, add us on Facebook at Inland Empire Future Leaders Program, and/or follow us on Instagram at ieflp. 

Disney Parks, Experiences and Products recently announced proposed plans for a phased reopening of the Disneyland Resort. Pending state and local government approvals, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa and Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel plan to reopen on July 23, and Disneyland park and Disney California Adventure park will plan to reopen on July 17. Additionally, Downtown Disney District will begin reopening on July 9. 

Because theme park capacity will be significantly limited to comply with governmental requirements and promote physical distancing, the Disneyland Resort will manage attendance through a new theme park reservation system that will require all guests, including Annual Passholders, to obtain a reservation for park entry in advance. Theme park reservations will be subject to availability. More details about this new reservation system will be available soon. At this time, there will also be a temporary pause on new ticket sales and Annual Passport sales and renewals. Additional details will be available soon. Please check Disneyland.com for the most current information. 

Once approved, the Disneyland Resort will reopen with enhanced health and safety measures. In addition, a Guest Experience Team will be available throughout the parks and Downtown Disney District to assist guests with questions regarding these new policies.

Certain experiences that draw large group gatherings – such as parades and nighttime spectaculars – will return at a later date. While character meet and greets will be temporarily unavailable, characters will be in the parks in new ways to entertain and delight guests.

Pending governmental approval, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel and Disney Vacation Club Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa are planned to reopen to guests and members starting on July 23. Plans to support physical distancing as well as increased cleaning measures, along with a number of other health and safety protocols, will be implemented as part of the phased reopening of the hotels and the Vacation Club.

Downtown Disney District will begin reopening on July 9 in line with the state’s reopening guidelines, with its unique variety of shopping and dining experiences, including the flagship World of Disney store. With the health of guests and Disney cast members at the forefront of planning, several operational changes will be implemented based on guidance from health authorities to promote physical distancing and cleanliness throughout the Downtown Disney District.

Additional information on enhanced health and safety measures and operational changes for reopening locations will be shared soon. These policies are under continuous review and are subject to change as the Disneyland Resort monitors conditions and receives guidance from health and government authorities.

Disneyland holds a special place in the hearts of people around the world. It was created as a place where family members of all ages could have fun together – a place to “leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy.” Sixty-five years later it still is.

It’s time for magic – and we look forward to welcoming you back. 

Please visit Disneyland.com and DisneyParksBlog.com for the latest information, and be sure to check back often as we continue to update important details.