By Lou Yeboah

With our television screens filled with pictures of rioting, looting, killing and violence in various American cities — just as it wounded the spirit of Habakkuk who couldn’t take it any longer and threw up his hands in desperation, to let heaven know exactly how he was feeling. Heart broken, looking for an answer from God, so are many people today. Crying from their heart about the rampant injustice and brutally inflicted pain that characterizes so much of the world.

“Oh Lord, God of vengeance, shine forth! Rise up Oh judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve! Oh Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult? They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast. They crush your people, Oh Lord, and afflict your heritage. They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless; and they say, “The Lord does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.” [Psalm 94: 1-7].

We see man’s hatred and violence for his fellow man again and again as in Scripture. Think of Pharaoh who drowned the Hebrew boys in the River Nile. Think of Haman who plotted to kill all the Jews in the kingdom of Persia. Think of King Herod who killed the baby boys of Bethlehem. Think of David – a man after God’s own heart. Yet, what did he do? He killed one of his own soldiers – a loyal man – to cover up the sin of adultery. What did the Pharisees at the time of Jesus do? They hated Jesus and quickly sought His destruction. In the book of Acts we see that same hatred was transferred to the apostles and the church. Oh Lord, how long how long before you avenge your people? How long Oh, Lord?

Hard broken, looking for an answer as Habakkuk, who spirit was wounded, and who finally couldn’t take it any longer. I too threw up my hands to heaven looking for an answer from God. 

As he said to Habakkuk, he said to me:  You may not understand it, Lou. You may not see the full picture. You’ll have to trust Me on this one. As you shake your hands in bewilderment at the scope of injustice and atrocity that you witness far too regularly. Have faith that I am still in control. That My sovereignty remains intact. That the final word still belongs to Me. Evil and injustice will NOT have the final word over their lives!

For “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings. I WILL REPAY, says the Lord! I’m not going to just give them what they deserve, but I’m going to make the enemy pay. It may not happen overnight, but I will settle the case. Trust Me! I am a God of justice. I’ve seen it, now I’m going to do something about it. [Hebrew 10:30]. I’m going to send My angels, and they will gather out of My kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 13:41-49].

Never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. These are the words from the book of Deuteronomy that Paul references in Romans 12.

“See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her; she will conceal her slain no longer.” [Isaiah 26:21].

The wrath of God will be deserved — totally just and right.

Exhale with me!

By Hardy Brown?| Founder, California Black Media?? Special to?California?Black Media Partners? 

Last year, I read a book titled?“The?Color of Law.”?Every Californian?should read it,?too?— especially if you truly care about Black lives.?? 

“A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America,” the book subtitle?reads.?It is written by?Richard?Rothstein, a fellow at the Haas Institute?in Berkeley. 

I’ve made a note to myself to write the publisher. I’ll ask?them to swap the word “forgotten”?in the subtitle?with “un-acknowledged.” That switch in the book’s name would reflect just?how little most of us?Californians?really know?about our shared American?and?state?history, and the state created discrimination African Americans have endured. Black people suffering is central to our collective American story.  

I was?convinced of this when some?tone-deaf?comments?a handful of elected officials?made?about African Americans and?Affirmative Action?reached?my ears.?The?lawmakers going around bandying those hurtful, racially-coded and untrue opinions, so far, have been?mostly?White and Asian American politicians?who are opposed to?Assembly Constitution Amendment (ACA)?5, not realizing the benefits they themselves have gained from Affirmative Action programs.? 

They?repeat?that?worn-out,?beat-up and shortsighted?line you’ve heard too many times. Any?policy?in California, they argue,?that?would consider?race in college admissions, employment or contracting?is?itself racist,?and?it?would, by design,?reward?benefits to?people who don’t deserve?them?based on?nothing more than the color of?their skin.?? 

That’s where their?argument falls short.?Yes,?Affirmative Action is?about race but it is also about?much more?than?skin color. 

It?is?about?deplorable?current?circumstances?that?grew?directly?out of specific historical experiences. It is?about equaling?opportunity for?descendants of?enslaved Africans?in the United States?who were denied access to full citizenship rights?both?by law?and custom.?It is about compensation for?unpaid labor and?explicit?discriminatory anti-Black,?anti-former slave?laws cooked up?for nearly four centuries?in city halls and?state Capitols?across?this great?country,?including Sacramento.?? 

If?the Assembly and Senate vote yes on?ACA 5, the measure will appear on the California ballot in November. If?voters approve?ACA?5, it will?once again make?it?legal in California to?consider race in public employment, education, contracting and even in state data reporting.?? 

“The Color of Law”?documents?in clear?and unsparing?detail?how?city councils, state legislatures and the federal government?crafted?law?after?racist?law,?and?adapted other?public policies?with built-in?racial?biases. These?policies?were created to intentionally exclude Africans and rob them of economic opportunity afforded others?for centuries.?? 

This is not make-believe.?This troubling history?is all documented.?? 

Those same governments,?here in California and around the country,?extended hand-up?after hand-up,?using all of our tax dollars,?exclusively to?White Americans. These targeted?economic programs?improved the financial standing of?millions of White Americans?and?contributed?to the?establishment?of a strong?and?expansive?White?middle class in the country by the 1950s.?Some of those?same?policies,?way too?many to?list here,?also?contributed to the?geographical?segregation, by race?and?rail track, that persists in our cities and towns?across?the country.? 

And, no,?“The Color of Law”?is not?only?about states?located?below the?Mason-Dixon Line in?the old?Confederate?South?—?that?all-too-notorious region of?our country?where?slavery’s?most?infamous?profiteers?and their surrogates?degraded, beat?and slaughtered?African Americans?while?whole families of us toiled in the fields?without pay for?centuries?harvesting?tobacco, cotton and?rice.?? 

“The Color of Law”?also?includes numerous examples of racist?legislation?right here?in California.  

Our state?and its cities and towns?—?from our founding in?1850 to?the minute you’re reading this sentence —?have passed?minor?local?ordinances?and?sweeping?state laws?on everything from?public housing to the War on Drugs that have negatively impacted?the pockets and peace of?Black Americans.?? 

In fact, so many of our cities created adjacent “unincorporated areas” where a majority of African Americans lived and received no municipal services for their tax dollars.  

Today, African American?Californians?have the?least?household income?and wealth among all other races, including?many new?immigrants,?who have come and joined our multiracial American family, and?benefited from the civil rights advances Blacks have?shed blood and died?to?make available to all?in this country?and state.?? 

Our children perform the worst on the state’s standardized tests among their peers of other races and ethnicities.?We are arrested,?convicted?and?sentenced to prison more than any other group in California, and we make up the?lion’s share of the state’s?homeless population.?? 

By every study, we are stigmatized, racially profiled and discriminated against the most. This happens in every arena from hiring?and?hairstyles to apartment hunting?and?home buying.?? 

In our UC and CSU schools, African American college students are the only group whose percentage?of students enrolled is less than our representation in the state’s population.?? 

Yet, so many of our fellow Californians of other races deny the impact?state-created, sanctioned?and?implemented anti-Black?policies have?had on our lives and living conditions.?? 

By?the time I got to the?last page?of??“The Color of Law,” ?I?can’t?say the book opened my eyes?to the?brutal?history of anti-Blackness,?enforced?segregation, and legalized discrimination?in California and around this country.?I was born?and raised?in Jim Crow America?in a former slaveholding state, North Carolina,?where?local?elected officials always?kept?steps ahead?of the federal government,?rolling out their?own?counterforce laws?to pull back on?any?national?legislation that?attempted to advance?the rights?of?the descendants of slaves.?I have?plenty of anecdotal evidence.?? 

The book did supply, however, a trove of concrete examples?that confirm just how deliberate,?deep-seated and un-American those policies that excluded African Americans?for centuries have been.?? 

So how can?some of?our fellow Californians turn a blind eye to our state?and country’s?role in contributing to the?desperate?and disparate?conditions from which Black Californians have yet to recover?  

This week, as our state’s lawmakers of all races and backgrounds prepare their hearts and hands to vote on ACA 5 in our state legislature, I urge each one of you to take an honest look at the cruel under-told and understudied history of American policies that have negatively contributed to the current economic and social conditions of Blacks here in California and across the United States. 

I ask each one of you to pose some questions to yourself: Why do we keep confronting the same untreated racial problems decade after decade in our beloved Golden State? Why does it take the violent beating or murder of a Rodney King, Tyisha Miller, Oscar Grant, Stephon Clark or George Floyd to shock us out of our complacency? Why don’t we seek lasting solutions from the same hallowed chambers of representative government that have for centuries now too often been the birthplace of policies that have limited the rights of Blacks as Californians and American citizens.  

SAN BERNARDINO, CA – Yesterday, Rep. Pete Aguilar announced that Riverside-San Bernardino County Indian Health, Inc has received $383,553 in coronavirus-response funding from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The funding will allow the organization to increase staff and provide protective equipment to prevent further spread of the virus within the region’s tribal communities.

“Since the beginning of this pandemic, I’ve worked with my House colleagues to make sure Inland Empire communities have the resources they need to prevent the spread of this virus and protect essential workers and health care personnel. I’m proud to announce this funding, which will help our tribal communities overcome this crisis and will lead to better health outcomes overall,” said Rep. Aguilar.

“The grant award comes to us at a pivotal time in our battle against this COVID-19 virus. Due to the scarcity in public health infrastructure and emergency management amongst the tribes we serve, our Native American  patient population is dependent on Riverside-San Bernardino County Indian Health, Inc. to provide risk mitigation in times of crisis,” stated Riverside–San Bernardino County Indian CEO, Jess Montoya.

“This award will enable us to purchase essential equipment and supplies, hire additional support staff, implement appropriate technology, and strengthen our organization’s public health activities to thoroughly care for our patients and reduce the impact of COVID-19 in our tribal communities. We would like to acknowledge Representative Aguilar for his support to Indian County at this time for his assistance in funding this program. This will benefit our patients and clinic system immediately and down the road.”

Rep. Aguilar serves as the Vice Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, the committee responsible for allocating federal funding to agencies such as HHS.

Last week, African American activists confronted affirmative action opponents on a Zoom town hall a conservative Republican candidate organized. At least one Republican elected official attended the event that the Silicon Valley Chinese Association Foundation (SVCAF) supported.    

June Yang Cutter is an Asian American Republican running for State Assembly in District 77, which covers parts of northern San Diego and the nearby cities of Poway and Rancho Santa Fe, among others.  She is running against incumbent Brian Maienschein (D-San Diego). 

One major topic on the call was the proposed constitutional amendment ACA 5.  

ACA 5 would allow California voters a chance to uphold or overturn Proposition 209, a ballot measure that passed in 1996 outlawing the consideration of race in contracting, college admissions, employment and state data reporting in California.  

If voters approve ACA 5 in November, it would bring Affirmative Action back to the state of California. The state would then join 42 other states that provide equal opportunity programs that support women and minorities.?? 

Affirmative Action is an issue that has polarized some staunch African American opponents of Prop 209 and some avid Asian American supporters of it in California, driving a deep wedge that remains smack-dab at the heart of the relationship between those two advocacy camps.  

Last Wednesday, June 3, during a virtual town hall meeting organized to drum up opposition to ACA 5, participants made some comments Black activists said were misguided and demeaning.  

Some of the Black participants, who attended the digital town hall took offense when one of the speakers referenced a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., quote to make the argument that Black people should get ahead by their own means rather than lean on affirmative action to access opportunities.  

“He had this immigrant story of how he had to pull himself up by the bootstraps,” said Chris Lodgson, a member of American Descendants of Slavery (ADOS). “(And he) started talking about how Dr. Martin Luther King would not be in favor of ACA 5 and Affirmative Action. That was sort of the tipping point. I told him that it was disrespectful for him to invoke the name of Dr. Martin Luther King. Taking away Affirmative Action has particularly hurt us.” 

Lodgson and other ADOS members, say the Zoom call moderators, dropped them from the meeting when they started speaking up, but they made sure they communicated to the group that  some of the comments made on the call were disrespectful and insulting to them. They also pointed out that the selective reference to King without providing context dishonored the memory of an African American icon who stood for equality for all.  

“We let them know,” Lodgson said. “The second point I made was that George Floyd was put in the ground in the middle of COVID-19, and you all out here trying to take (stuff) away from Black folks. It’s disgusting and you should be ashamed of yourselves. We told them just like that.” 

Last month, the California Assembly Committee on Public Employment and Retirement approved ACA 5, which Assemblymember Dr. Shirley (D-San Diego) Weber, chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), introduced earlier this year. It passed out of committee with a 6-1 vote.? 

Under current law, Prop 209 prohibits the state from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to certain individuals or groups on the basis of their race, sex color, ethnicity, or national origin.? 

Many opponents of Prop 209 say the legislation puts an end to opportunities that were designed to level the playing field for minorities.?? 

If approved by voters in the November 2020 general election, ACA 5, also known as the California Act for Economic Prosperity, would remove the provisions of Prop 209 from the California Constitution.? 

ACA 5 has the support of various organizations and civic leaders across the state, which include the National Organization of Women, California Federation of Teachers, California-Hawaii NAACP State Conference, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, and California State Board of Equalization member Malia Cohen. 

 
Others supporters of the proposition are the Justice Society, California Black Chamber of Commerce, Chinese For Affirmative Action (an organization that protects the civil and political rights of Chinese Americans). 

San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Norman Yee also endorses the ACA 5. 

Although several prominent Asian American leaders and organizations support ACA 5, others remain bitterly opposed to it.  

Crystal Lu, President of the SVCAF, wrote a letter to members of the California Assembly urging them to vote no.  

“The 14th Amendment of the US Constitution clearly states that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of its laws,” Lu’s letter read. “ACA 5 re-introduces racial preferences, still a form of racial discrimination, into the state law. Therefore, it violates the US Constitution. It will divide California and pit one group of citizens against another simply based on their race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin.” 

Lu said the SVCAF has started a Change.org ?petition? that more than 22,600 people have signed.  

Dr. Mei-ling Malone, an adjunct professor at California State University, Fullerton, who has an African American father and Taiwanese mother, supports ACA 5.? 

Malone, an instructor of African American Studies, told California Black Media that Asian Americans have an unfortunate history of taking unfriendly positions toward African Americans that dates all the way back to the late 1800s and early 1900s.  

They did not come in chains like Black people, she said, referring to a group of Chinese immigrants as one example of an Asian American sub-group whose historical relationship with African Americans has been characterized more by conflict than agreement.  

 The need for labor on the Continental Railroad and other menial jobs at the turn of the 20^th century prompted the United States to relax immigration policies. Asians took advantage of it and emigrated in large numbers.   

“Asian Americans have had a long history of being anti-Black as their strategy to protect themselves,” Malone said in a telephone interview with CBM. “Say like in the early 1900s when the Chinese were immigrating to Mississippi, they were doing everything they could to prove to White Folks that they were not Black. They wanted to be more like White people.” 

Malone said the move to align themselves with White identity and interests in America has been about self-preservation for some Asian Americans. The White power structure, she said, was more suitable and advantageous.  

Malone said some Asian Americans still rely on that strategy to get ahead.  

Former Democrat presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who is Taiwanese American, says some Asian Americans have bought into an idea that America has sold them: That they are the most vaunted group among the country’s minorities.  
 

“Obviously, alternately, they could have been in solidarity. Asians and Black folks could have been fighting together,” Malone said. “But unfortunately, many Asians have a history of taking the fate of ‘we’re going to side with the White power structure.’ The model-minority myth helped tighten that strategy.”? 

The next round of voting on ACA 5 will be on the Assembly floor at the State Capitol on June 10. If the proposition passes that hurdle, it moves on to the California Senate for consideration.  

In an unanimous 98-0 vote presided over by Vice President Pence, a rare occasion, the Senate voted to confirm Gen. Charles “C.Q.” Brown as the Air Force’s next chief of staff.

In addition to being the first African American military service chief, Brown will be the first African American to sit on the Joint Chiefs of Staff since Colin Powell was chairman from 1989 to 1993.

The historic confirmation comes as the nation is gripped by protests over racial injustice that were sparked by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died when a police officer who has since been charged with second-degree murder knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes.

In a video last week, Brown spoke starkly about his feelings on Floyd’s death and being an African American service member.

“As the commander of Pacific Air Forces, a senior leader in our Air Force and an African American, many of you may be wondering what I’m thinking about the current events surrounding the tragic death of George Floyd,” Brown said.

“I’m thinking about how my nomination provides some hope, but also comes with a heavy burden. I can’t fix centuries of racism in our country, nor can I fix decades of discrimination that may have impacted members of our Air Force,” added Brown, who also spoke about navigating “two worlds.”

President Trump, who has come under criticism for threatening to deploy active-duty troops to quell the protests, celebrated Brown’s confirmation Tuesday before the Senate even started voting.

“My decision to appoint @usairforce General Charles Brown as the USA’s first-ever African American military service chief has now been approved by the Senate,” Trump tweeted about a half hour before the vote. “A historic day for America! Excited to work even more closely with Gen. Brown, who is a Patriot and Great Leader!”

Brown, who has been the commander of Pacific Air Forces since July 2018, will take over for current Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein, who is expected to retire later this summer. The Air Force said Tuesday that Brown’s swearing-in ceremony will be held Aug. 6.

Trump nominated Brown in March, but his confirmation was delayed first by Senate scheduling uncertainty amid the coronavirus pandemic and then, as reported by Defense News, by an informal hold Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) placed on the nomination over questions about the Air Force’s KC-46 aerial refueling tanker.

Prior to leading Pacific Air Forces, Brown was the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command.

His résumé also includes time as the commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command in 2015 and 2016 during the height of the air campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

He has also served multiple tours across Europe, Asia and the Middle East as an F-16 fighter jet pilot, racking up more than 2,900 flying hours.

Assemblymember Dr. Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus, gave an emotional speech June 3, at a press conference held at the California State Capitol. 

On Wednesday, June 10, one of Weber’s bills, ACA 5, co-authored by Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson (D-Carson), will be taken up on the Assembly floor.  If passed, ACA 5 would give voters a new chance to weigh in on affirmative action, which was banned when voters passed Proposition 209 in 1996. Supporters say ACA 5 would remove roadblocks to opportunities for women and people of color.

 Starting Thursday, 169 locations will serve customers with appointments, offering limited services. Customers encouraged to use online and expanded virtual services when possible 

Sacramento – The California Department of Motor Vehicles on Thursday, June 11, will reopen its remaining field offices that were temporarily closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. With this phase of reopening, employees at 169 field offices will assist customers with current appointments at the specific office and limited transactions that require an in-person visit. Behind-the-wheel drive tests are not yet available, and the DMV continues to recommend that customers use its online services, expanded virtual services and other service channels to complete transactions, including eligible driver license and vehicle registration renewals.

“I continue to encourage Californians to use our online services, the Virtual Field Office, DMV Now kiosks and business partners whenever possible,” DMV Director Steve Gordon said. “Nearly all DMV tasks can be accomplished without an office visit. To keep wait times down and to maintain public health guidelines, I ask you to only visit a DMV office when absolutely necessary and to come prepared.”

Limited service: Employees will continue serving customers with existing appointments and Californians in need of selected transactions that can only be completed in a DMV field office, including:

Paying registration for a vehicle impounded because of registration-related issues

• Reinstating a suspended or revoked driver license
• Applying for a reduced-fee or no-fee identification card
• Processing commercial driver license transactions
• Applying for a disabled person parking placards (this can also be done by mail using the REG 195 form)
• Adding an ambulance certificate or firefighter endorsement to a driver license
• Verifying a transit training document to drive a transit bus
• Processing DMV Express customers for REAL ID transactions, if time and space allow
• Vehicle verifications

Offices will also offer additional services for commercial drivers, including vehicle inspections and basic control tests. The commercial offices will begin contacting previously scheduled applicants to reschedule the vehicle inspection and basic skills components. The DMV also will resume offering motorcycle drive tests.

Appointments: The DMV has already begun rescheduling appointments canceled during the temporary closure and notifying customers of the new date. Once the DMV has accommodated those customers, the DMV will begin offering a limited number of new appointments.

 The DMV plans to resume offering all services to appointment and non-appointment customers in the coming weeks, as space allows. The DMV notes for its customers that the San Bernardino field office is closed until further notice for repairs. 

 Public health measures: Customers will notice numerous changes to safeguard the health of employees and customers. including: Employees are wearing face coverings and maintaining physical distancing and have access to disinfecting wipes, hand sanitizer, facial shields, gloves and soap and water. The DMV also is providing hand-washing stations for customer use in select locations. Customers are required to wear a face covering and remain 6 feet apart in line. Customers are offered a text message that will allow them to wait outside the building until notified they are ready to be served. Entry into the building is metered, and customers may experience extended wait times.

Behind-the-wheel drive tests: Behind-the-wheel tests are currently not available due to physical distancing concerns. The DMV plans to resume behind-the-wheel exams for both commercial and non-commercial drivers in the coming weeks. The DMV suspended the tests in March to comply with physical distancing guidelines. The DMV will reschedule canceled appointments for drive tests automatically when testing resumes.

Credit cards: The DMV has expanded credit card and digital wallet (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay) payment options to all offices statewide.

REAL ID: The DMV has expanded its “DMV Express” option to all field offices, allowing customers to fill out the online application for REAL ID, upload documents at home and receive an expedited experience at a local DMV office. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government extended the REAL ID enforcement date to October 1, 2021, a year later than previously announced, to give people more time to apply.

“We appreciate the public’s patience as we navigate this time of unprecedented challenges,” Director Gordon said. “We will continue to monitor the situation and act in the best interest of our customers and employees.”

By Lou Yeboah

At 2:45 p.m. on Friday, local time, in the year of 2011, life was normal in Japan.

People were working. Students were in class. Shoppers were in grocery stores. Trains were running and passengers were loading airplanes. Banks were open, government officials were in meetings, and lovers were thinking of dinner dates later that night. Power plants were running smoothly, roads were in the right place, and dock workers were preparing goods to be loaded on cargo ships.

At 2:46, without warning, the earth began to shake.

When it comes to earthquakes and tsunamis, Japan is the most prepared country in the world. Immediately, power was cut off to all power plants. Warning signals blared across the land. Students dove under desks, just as they’d been trained to do. Buildings swayed, but did not fall, just as they’d been built to do. Government, military and law enforcement officials went into emergency mode, just as they’d all drilled to do.

But the earth kept shaking.

Eighty miles out, in the deep blue seascape of the Pacific Ocean, six miles above the massive movements of the earth’s plates, salt water was being churned and tossed about with a force far stronger than any force ever created by man. The first waves slammed into the shoreline two hours later, 23 feet above the beaches that had been so calm just an hour earlier. Cars, ships, houses and chucks of roadway were swept along with the water, destroying everything in the path of the surge.

The aftershocks came, one after another, until more than 50 had been recorded.

By the time the first waves receded into the sea, preparing for yet another blast of water and houses and cars and explosions, hundreds of bodies were already among the litter. At sea, a ship loaded with 100 people was swept away. Tankers were flipped over in their harbors. A passenger train is missing. The whole thing. Missing. The waterfront of Sendai burns out of control, and firefighters can’t reach the area. All roads are broken, or missing.

Inland, 30 miles from the coast, and 50 miles from the worst of the damage, a dam in one town breaks, immediately sending a torrent of water through residential neighborhoods. By the time the damage is surveyed, 1,800 homes had been destroyed in an area that should have felt safe from the danger of a tsunami. Landslides triggered by the earthquake quickly buried other communities, while people were still inside the buildings. As far south as Tokyo, ambulances lined up outside a school where a roof had collapsed on an unknown number of students, teachers, and parents who had gathered for graduation ceremonies. With the collapse of infrastructure, six million homes lost power, and millions of people were looking for food and fresh water within the day. Many of them resorted to walking on the broken highways, hoping to find a way to survive on higher ground.

And on the horizon loomed the worst news of all. There were critical, potentially devastating, problems developing at a nuclear power plant.

Warnings were issued for countries all around the Pacific rim, and Hawaii braced for the worst. The tsunami raced across the surface of the ocean at more than 200 miles per hour, and visions of more destruction terrify coastal communities from Indonesia to New Zealand to the Americas.

Two hours and 14 minutes after the first tremor, officials announce that the death toll was expected to top 1,000. Even as they made the announcement, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake shook central Japan, and skyscrapers in Tokyo swayed as if they were drunk. When it was all over with, the death toll 15, 897.

Such is the nature of an unexpected storm.

This message is to once again warn you that Jesus is coming unexpectedly. As Jesus told the disciples, get into the boat that would take you all across the lake. The disciples survived their storm at sea only because Jesus was in the boat. The key to surviving life’s storms – is having a personal relationship with Jesus. You are to “take heed.” If you ignore God’s provision for your soul’s salvation how will you escape the consequences of such neglect? How will you escape His wrath? (John 3:36); His condemnation? [John 3:18]; His word of banishment? [Matthew 26:41].

God is so good, so merciful and so compassionate.  The Scripture says: “it is not the will of God that we should perish.” We are at that point of time where Judah was before the fall of the empire. But nobody is listening like in the times of King Manasseh. Nobody is listening to the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “Repent, and believe the gospel because your redemption is drawing near.  I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. [Luke 5:32].  “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die?” (Ezekiel 33:11) Jesus died for you. Why will you die?

God gives only a certain time to repent, and after that point, it’s too late. Case in point, Jezebel. God said, “I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling…” [Revelation 2:21-23]… The Bible is full of examples of people given time to repent but they refused: [Genesis 4; Jeremiah 5:3, Amos 4:6, Zephaniah 3:2, and Zechariah 7:1] to name just a few. [2Peter 3:9] tells us, “The Lord is patient towards us. He is not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” That’s God’s heart. He wants us to repent. That why He gives us time to repent. That’s why He pleads with us to repent. That’s why He sends people; ministers, preachers, friends, family members who beg us to repent. Jezebel was not ignorant of her sin. She knew what she was doing, and she refused to repent.  Therefore it became too late for her to repent – not because God wouldn’t pardon her, but because she had hardened her heart. Jezebel had been confronted, she’s resisted, and she refused to repent. Don’t be a Jezebel. The door of repentance is still open. There’s still hope, but not forever.… [Hebrews 12:17]… God’s EMS- This is not a test- Action is required. Repent!

Edwin Benard Benson, age 74, received his heavenly wings on Friday, May 15, 2020.

Benard was born May 6, 1946, to John Henry and Rebecca Benson in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He accepted Christ at an early age at Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church. John Henry ensured that the Benson kids were in church. This is where Benard developed his solid foundation of honesty, respect, and compassion. These core values he carried with him throughout his life.

He attended Anderson High School where he graduated in 1964, then immediately enlisted in the United States Army. He returned to Winston-Salem after serving honorably for 7 years, and later moved to Los Angeles, California, where he met and married Vanessa. From that union, he had a daughter, Regina.

In 1991, he married Claire Laverne. They enjoyed a loving and fun-filled marriage for 29 years. They loved traveling, family gatherings, and enjoyed spending time with their grandchildren. Benard’s second love was refurbishing vintage cars, but he also truly enjoyed home-remodeling projects, and playing the lottery.

He enjoyed a remarkable career with the California Department of Corrections for 27 years in various capacities, including Correctional Officer, Correctional Sergeant, and Correctional Lieutenant, before retiring in 2002. He inspired and motivated through his consummate leadership, and was loved and highly respected by all.

He was preceded in death by his parents John Henry and Rebecca Benson, one sister Mary Jordan, brothers-in-law, Robert Earl Key, Lawrence Lindsay, Charlie Jordan, Melvin Brown, and sister-in-law Annie Benson. He leaves to cherish his memory, his devoted and loving wife, Claire Laverne, a daughter, Regina, two stepsons, Lamont and Lawrence, four sisters, Margretta Key, Alice Lindsay, Roxie Burns (Carl), and Queen Withee (Al), three brothers, Leroy, John, and George (Sharon), one Aunt, Naomi Thomas, 5 grandchildren, and a special life-long friend, George Fields, all whom he adored, and they loved him as well. Also to cherish his memory are a host of other relatives and friends who will remember his kind heart and his gentle and good nature. He will be truly missed and will be always remembered as the level-headed, caring, and fun person that he was.