RIVERSIDE, CA- California’s longest-running free literary event, Writers Week, will return to the University of California, Riverside for its 41st installment February 12 to February 17, 2018.

Feminist icon and National Medal of Arts recipient Maxine Hong Kingston, best-selling novelist Janet Fitch, and Haitian-American essayist and New York Times columnist Roxane Gay will headline the event, joining an additional 17 authors for an on-campus series of presentations and readings.

In keeping with the event’s emphasis on showcasing diverse voices, this year’s lineup of featured writers reflects a range of perspectives from around the country and world, said Tom Lutz, a professor of creative writing at UCR and the event’s director.

“The writers work in very different genres as well: realist novels, historical novels, slipstream, science fiction, graphic novels, memoir, autofiction, poetry, prose poetry, spoken word, fantasy, and creative nonfiction,” Lutz said.

The series is free and open to the public, and all events will take place in Room 1128 of Interdisciplinary Building North. Complimentary parking permits will be available at the kiosk on West Campus Drive at the University Avenue entrance to the campus.

Writers Week is presented by UCR’s Department of Creative Writing, with additional support from African Student Programs, the LGBT Resource Center, The Well, and the Women’s Resource Center.

This year’s participating writers are: Hadara Bar-Nadav, Sherwin Bitsui, Christ Buckley. Micah Chatterton, Charmaine Craig, Nanette Deetz, Josh Emmons, Janet Fitch, Tee Franklin, Roxane Gay, Myrian Gurba, John Jennings, Maxine Hong Kingston, Krys Lee, James Luna, Marco Maisto, Gina Nahai, Tess Taylor, Justin Torres, and Vickie Vertiz.

Omarosa Manigault Newman, who has resigned under duress from her public liaison job at the White House, is leaving true to form – amidst a cloud of controversy and with sparks flying. 

The White House has confirmed her resignation effective Jan. 20. The official White House reason was that she is leaving to pursue “other opportunities.”

“Thank you Omarosa for your service! I wish you continued success,” says a Dec. 13 tweet from President Donald Trump, who had handpicked Manigault Newman – best known for her first name only. A personal friend of Trump’s, they have known each other 14 years since her national television debut on his reality show, “The Apprentice.”

But the full circumstances surrounding Omarosa’s departure remain cloudy at best amidst numerous reports that she was actually fired or forced to resign amidst cursing and a heated confrontation with Trump’s Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly. She has only conceded that there was a tense conversation with Kelly in the White House Situation Room. Since his arrival last July, Kelly had limited her access to the Oval Office, where she initially had the freedom to come and go.

On ABC, the only media outlet that has interviewed her since the resignation, the clearly angry Omarosa said reports that she was fired are “a hundred percent false.” But, then she added, “But when I have a chance to tell my story to tell – quite a story – as the only African-American woman in this White House, as a senior staff and assistant to the president, I have seen things that have made me uncomfortable, that have upset me, that have affected me deeply and emotionally, that has affected my community and my people and when I can tell my story, it is a profound story that I know the world will want to hear,” she said, leaving an obvious cliffhanger.
Omarosa was reached to obtain responses on issues raised in this article, but she declined comment due to the fact that she is still a White House employee until Jan. 20. She was only allowed the interviews with ABC News.

Black Republicans say Omarosa blocked them from jobs.

Meanwhile, Black Republicans claim Omarosa blocked them from jobs in order to maintain her status as the “only African-American woman… senior staff and assistant to the president” as she described herself on ABC. Her actual White House title has been assistant to the president and director of communications in the White House Office of Public Liaison.

But her actual job description appears not to have been clearly defined. In interviews with the Trice Edney News Wire Black Republicans blame her for blocking Black job applicants from the Trump administration – including Republican stalwart Kay Coles James, who was appointed Dec. 19 as the first African-American and first woman president of the conservative Heritage Foundation.

“I was blocked personally. Essentially, my file was pulled and I wasn’t deemed pro-Trump enough,” says Eugene Craig. “The official excuse was that I wasn’t pro-Trump enough although I was the sitting chair of the Maryland Republican Party.”

Sources said because of President Trump’s need for loyalty, that attribute – loyalty – was among the top considerations for key White House positions. Craig admits that he was a “never Trumper all the way”, but that was during the campaign. Craig says he noticed that when the time came for consideration for jobs and the broad banner of Republicanism, White never-Trumpers were given consideration where African-Americans were not.

“The flood gates were opened, but Omarosa held all of us to a different standard. She had say over a lot of the Black resumes. I know for a fact from promises that she made us directly.”

Craig says a January conference call with the Republican National Committee and Trump transition team was held “specifically for African-American activists and party loyalists.” He said, “During the middle of the call, she jumped on and bogarted on. And she came in and she made us these promises that this would be the most diverse administration in history. And she’ll help us with whatever we need and wherever we wanted to go into government and to shoot our resumes over to her and she gave us her official transition email. She said this administration has a goal of having 25 percent minority hiring. They wanted 25 percent of the work force to be Black and Hispanic…So she positioned herself as the end all be all for Black things; for Black people in the administration,” Craig said.

Ayshia Connors, a former deputy director of African-American engagement at the Republican National Committee, now a senior advisor to Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), agrees. She describes an initiative by The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and Insight America, an organization headed by former Republican Congressman J. C. Watts:

“There were hundreds, probably thousands of resumes of qualified individuals in the Black community that were ready and prepared to go into any administration no matter who won the election. And when President Trump got elected, all of those names were submitted and Omarosa literally trashed those names. Nobody got a call back. Nobody got an interview.  Nobody was ever heard about again. People tried to go in. People were eager and willing to serve the President, willing to serve our country. But Omarosa, she didn’t want other Black Republicans there. She wanted to be the big shot. She wanted to be the only one. And so, everybody kind of just decided it wasn’t worth our times to keep dealing with it. And so, by February, people had just moved on from Omarosa and dealing with the White House and decided to start working with Congress and dealing some other policy matters.”

Connors added that Kay Coles James, former Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources under Virginia Republican Gov. George Allen and director for the United States Office of Personnel Management under President George W. Bush, received the same treatment.

“She was willing and prepared to go back into the government and to help the administration. But Omarosa was such a distraction and created so much drama and confusion that Ms. James just decided not to engage it anymore. So that’s what ended up happening. That’s why you only saw Omarosa as a senior Black Republican in the White House.”

In a brief interview with James upon her appointment as president of the Heritage Foundation, James was clear about why she did not go to work in the Trump White House.

“When Donald Trump said that he wanted to improve the urban areas and that he wanted to make the lives of minorities in this country better, I said, wow, if he wants to do that, I genuinely want to be a part of that and I was excited and hopeful the opportunity to come in,” she said. “But that opportunity never really afforded itself. I am told that I was blocked…I don’t have specifics about how that happened, but I was extremely disappointed that I didn’t have the opportunity to serve there.”

Connors said the clearest evidence that Omarosa was not going to work with other Black Republicans came in February when Omarosa was in charge of pulling together the Black History Month program for President Trump.

“During Black History Month, these credible Republicans such as Kay Coles James and J. C. Watts and Elroy Sailor, they tried to engage Omarosa.” Instead, Omarosa put an event together that included her personal picks of African-Americans, including Black Democrats, Connors said.

“She didn’t invite any of the prominent Black Republicans. In fact, we had folks calling us from the White House calling and saying, ‘Why aren’t your names on the list for this event?’ It was very evident from the beginning that she wasn’t going to work with us and that she was just going to do her own thing.”

Connors cited another event for Vice President Pence that was planned by Black Republicans to be held at West Point. “That was another example of Omarosa using her position in the White House to block that event as well. And that was actually the turning point for Black Republicans. We decided she was just too distracting too disruptive and we decided to focus our efforts elsewhere.”

On the record sources willing to speak in defense of Omarosa were difficult to find. But, high placed Republican sources say it is not possible that Omarosa could have made such powerful decisions without oversight in the White House – most likely the President himself. Other high Republican sources said James was offered positions, but Omarosa fought against any Black staff appointment that would be above her own.

Yet another rationale for why some Black Republicans seeking employment were rejected may have been because they had left the Republican National Committee Headquarters in protest against treatment by then RNC Chairman Reince Priebus nearing the end of the presidential campaign. Priebus then became President Trump’s first chief of staff and was likely adverse to hiring the same staffers who had left the RNC, one source said.

Christopher Metzler, an active member of the Black GOP Coalition, who has long worked Republican policy and strategy, had one answer when asked why there were no long time Black Republicans hired as White House staff. “It’s very simple. Omarosa,” he said.

“Somebody like Kay [Coles James] who could serve as a whisperer in the President’s ear like a Condoleezza Rice; like a Valerie Jarrett, was never given that opportunity. There was a lot of back and forth pertaining to that. And Kay said, “Well, it is not going to serve the President well for me to try to cut through this thicket. And as a result of that, she did not push it any further.”

Metzler concluded, “All of these things were blocked by Omarosa. At the end of the day, Omarosa is first and foremost a Democrat. She is not a conservative. She is not a Republican. She never has been. She is simply an opportunist. And that’s where we ended up.”

Black Republicans Do Not Necessarily Mean Black Representation; nor Justice

Dr. Ron Daniels, president of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW) and a long-time associate of Omarosa’s Youngstown, Ohio family, has had a unique view of Omarosa in the White House. He worked directly with her when she was a Democrat. He even named her a celebrity ambassador for IBW’s Haiti Support Project after she traveled with a group of journalists to document the level of disaster following the 2010 earthquake. His view in the midst of her departure from the White House is two-fold.

First, as it pertains to those Black Republicans who felt that they earned a position due to their loyalty to Black Republicans, “diversity does not equal representation of the Black community,” he said. “That’s one of the fallacies…Trump’s agenda is a negative agenda. Fact number one is the way he dogged President Obama, the way he talked badly about Mexicans, etc. Why would anybody want to associate with that administration in the first place?”

Citing pioneering Black Republicans such as Nixon’s Art Fletcher, known as “the father of affirmative action,” Daniels says modern day Black Republicans can hardly hold a candle to some of the Black Republicans who – instead of following the party line – stood for justice when it was needed most. “The brand of Republicanism that we have now is extremely out of step with the vast majority of Black people and the mainstream of Black aspirations and Black policy and the concepts of Black policy prescriptions.”

Because of his working with Omarosa and his affinity for projects that she led for Haiti and for children in the U. S., Daniels now sees what he believes to have been her true agenda based on her most recent situation.

“I think Omarosa, for whatever reason, is somebody who had been on the liberal side. She had supported Hillary Clinton…She had been in Democratic politics and all that. I think Omarosa saw an opportunity to advance her own interests and that is why she was blocking everybody else in terms of the Republicans who wanted to get close. She wanted to be the Queen bee,” Daniels said. “She wanted to be able to fire folks, metaphorically speaking, or block people. That’s not a good thing. But the idea that if she had opened the flood gates of somehow having more Ben Carsons or more Clarence Thomases or people like that, [that would not have been a good thing either]. But I don’t think Omarosa was there advocating. It was really stunning to see her make that transformation.”

Black Republicans are not the only ones who say they were rejected by Omarosa

American Urban Radio Network reporter April Ryan, a White House correspondent who has covered four presidents, confirmed that now former Trump press secretary, Sean Spicer, told her that Omarosa had asked him to “stop calling on me” during press briefings. Had he adhered to that request, it could have blocked important information and coverage on behalf of millions of African-American listeners to AURN radio stations across the nation. Ryan says Omarosa also tried to get her fired by calling her boss at AURN.

Many of Omarosa’s previous friends and associates, who rejected Trumpism, say they were also rejected. Daniels says he was one of them.

“Omarosa is my home girl. My roots are in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and most of my adult life was spent in Youngstown, Ohio,” her hometown, he recalls. “I had my own television show in Youngstown, Ohio for 18 years. She said she grew up watching me and was inspired by that. I saw the good work she was doing with children in Compton and that she had a progressive vision. So we forged a friendship,” he said. “All of that was positive. 

Then, all of a sudden Trump came along and I saw her in and around Trump and I became very nervous. She’s my homegirl. I cared about her. So at one point, I just sort of, as an elder, a friend, I just sort of called her to say, ‘Be careful. You seem to be getting very close to Donald Trump and I don’t think…’ And she just sort of went off on me, kind of like, ‘You don’t need to be telling me, nobody needs to be telling me what’s going on. I know what I’m doing. And somebody needs to be able to talk to him. And that was it. I just said bye because I did not want to see her become what she has now become in the Black community – a pariah in the Black community.”

There are many such stories told by former friends. But the truth about Omarosa’s tenure and final days at the White House is yet to be made clear.

NNPA Interviewed Omarosa last fall, but is still awaiting Trump interview that she promised.

Ben Chavis, president/CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, said he interviewed Omarosa last fall in her White House office, located in the Old Executive Office Building. At that time, shortly after the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Weekend, there was no indication that she would be leaving, Chavis said.

However, he speculated that, based on the content of the interview – which he said has not been published – she may have been pressing for diversity too much.

“She indicated broadly her determination to press diversity and inclusivity issues. She’s always maintained that posture,” Chavis said. “I think that’s probably one of the things that probably got her in trouble in the White House is that she probably was pressing for more diversity,” Chavis said.

In an off-the-record meeting with several hundred Black leaders, including Chavis, during the Trump transition last January, Omarosa said NNPA would get the first interview with President Trump, a promise she later denied despite multiple sources that confirmed the conversation. In the recent interview, she indicated that the Trump/NNPA interview was still possible, Chavis said. He said NNPA will continue to request the interview with Trump.

What happened in the final days of Omarosa’s tenure and the detailed reasons for her departure from the Trump administration are far from clear.

“There are two sides of the story – Omarosa’s story and those being told by other sources are two completely different stories,” said Ayshia Connors. “But based on her patterns of erratic behavior and disruptive behavior, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if she was confrontational with General Kelly and things were played out the way they were reported to have played out – outside of her story.”

Photo Credit: FW Photography

By Lue Dowdy

Model of the Month, Essence Belflower Perris, is WHAT IT DO! Calling all models all shapes, sizes, and ethnicities! Want to be featured in the Westside Story Newspaper in my column What It Do with Lue as the model of the month?

Well, here’s your chance. I’ll be selecting one beauty once a month. For consideration please send full body shoot and contact number to LUE PRODUCTIONS on Facebook. If selected, you’ll be notified immediately along with a few questions. Good Luck!

Get to know Plus size model Essence Perris. She was born Essence Bellflower Perris and is currently holding the title of Ms. Perris. She is from Bellflower, California and resides om Perris, California. She enjoys reading, make-up, and listening to music.

Essence works as a Facilities Assistant at Orange Empire Railway Museum. Her measurements are 40-36-44.

Following the sudden death of San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, the city’s President of the Board of Supervisors, London Breed, made history when she became the city’s first Black female mayor. The 43-year old will carry on in the role until a citywide mayoral election is held in the summer of 2018.

Breed is also only the second woman to be mayor of the city, as the only other woman to be mayor was Mayor Dianne Feinstein from 1978 to 1988. In addition, Breed is also only the second Black person to take the job. The first was Mayor Willie Brown, who served from 1996 to 2004.

But aside from inheriting her role as mayor, she is also planning to actually run for mayor in the 2018 election. She told reporters, “I do feel strongly that I’m qualified and I’m prepared to do this job.”

Born and raised in San Francisco, Breed earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Davis in 1997 and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of San Francisco in 2012.

In 2002, Breed became the executive director of the African American Art & Culture Complex, where she raised over $2.5 million to renovate the complex’s 34,000 square foot space. She was named to the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency Commission in 2004, and in 2010, she was appointed to the San Francisco Fire Commission.

For more details about the San Franciso Mayor’s office, visit www.sfmayor.org.

LOMA LINDA, CA- Harleys and motorcycles of every caliber came out to Quaid Harley-Davidson for the 25th annual toy ride benefiting Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital (LLUCH) on Sunday, December 17.

Dealer co-owners and uncle-nephew duo Glenn and Brandon Quaid both acknowledged the importance of the event while addressing the crowd of hundreds of people in attendance.

“It’s important for us to be here and show the kids some love,” said Brandon Quaid.

Over $7,000 was raised for the hospital through ride registrations and independent donations. Additionally, new, unwrapped toys were donated by riders and event attendees, filling a box truck with goodies for patients at LLUCH.

“Once again, our bikers have come together for a great cause,” said Glenn Quaid.

Loma Linda Fire Department was also on hand with a fire truck for photo ops before they led the leather-clad riders through the streets of the city toward the hospital.

By Lou Coleman-Yeboah

How is it that “whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, rain is coming, and so it is? And when you see the south wind blow, you say there will be hot weather; and there is. You hypocrite! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but you cannot discern what time it is?” [Luke 12:54-56; Matthew 16:1-4]. Repent now, for the Kingdom of God is at hand! And know that if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chain of darkness, to be reserved for judgment, [2 Peter 2:4-8]  if you continue in your sin, you too will be cast down to Hell!

Again, this message is a warning from God’s Word for everyone to repent of their sins and begin to live Godly lives in the light of the scriptures and to begin to seek God with great intensity, honesty, sincerity and urgency. The Bible says, “If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” [2 Chronicles 7:14].

The time is now for you to discern this time, this age and period in which we live, and understand what God is doing among the nations. His purpose is being fulfilled according to plan, and His Kingdom is coming. Do not be deceived!  God is not mocked. “Unless ye REPENT ye shall likewise perish” [Acts 2:39]. 

“And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat upon him was Death, and Hell followed with him.  And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword [war], and with hunger [famine], and with death and with the beasts of the earth [Revelation 6:8]

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live ; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which LORD Swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to live.” [Deuteronomy 30:19-20]

Jasmyne A. Cannick

By Jasmyne A. Cannick

Ronald Todd Eskew, better known as Najee Ali is out as the National Action Network (NAN) Los Angeles Chapter’s political director after his current wife came forward about being physically abused by him. In the wake of the allegations, NAN both locally in Los Angeles and nationally under the leadership and direction of Rev. Al Sharpton have cut all ties from Ali.

Ali, who is frequently called on by the news media as a spokesperson for Black people in Los Angeles and is known to be a trusted confidant of L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and an ally for police chief Charlie Beck on Black issues, most recently criticized Tavis Smiley after PBS said an investigation found “troubling allegations” of misconduct by the radio and TV host.

Ali recently told the Electronic Urban Report, “Smiley is just the latest sexual terrorist that the #Metoo campaign has taken down and brought to justice…This is the nail in the coffin for Smiley. Black woman are rising up and refusing to be silenced.”

But NAN Western Regional Director and Los Angeles Chapter President Pastor K.W. Tulloss said that Najee Ali has his own skeletons in the closet–skeletons that include recently beating his wife and possibly using crack again.

Tulloss said that while he’s been told over the years about Najee Ali’s history of verbal and physical abuse of women in the community and his spouses that it wasn’t until Ali’s current wife came to him for help after he beat her that he said enough was enough.

I’ve heard allegations,” Tulloss explained. “I’ve never heard from the victims directly. But this is his wife who reached out to me and I just can’t have that. It was a process. Najee–we’ve been friends for 13 years. He introduced me to Reverend Sharpton 13 years ago. And so I’ve already had a sense of loyalty and brotherhood. His wife is a wonderful person. She doesn’t deserve none of the things that she claims are happening to her. Him pulling her hair, putting his fist across her face, throwing her across the room, punching her in front of her daughter.”

Tulloss explains Najee Ali’s wife reaching out to him.

“Around the end of October we had a dinner with representatives from R.J. Reynolds to discuss the dialogue that we’ve been having when I received a call late that night from his wife. She began to tell me that she was involved in domestic abuse by him. That he put his hands on her, pulling her hair in front her daughter and she just didn’t know what to do. I advised her to call the police and to make a report and get out of there. She agreed and said that he had a drug problem. I said that I know he’s had problems in the past that other have shared with me and so it might be crack again–and really those are the symptoms that she described to me in phone conversations and via text messages. I encouraged her to go to the authorities and she told me that she was in fear of her life. I told her that since she’s in fear of her life that she had the ability and support to make this stop by going to the police.”

Reverend Sharpton backed up Tulloss’ claims by adding, “ I know that she made a disturbing call to Rev. Tulloss and that he called me and told me that he could not condone this. Tulloss knows that I go back many years with Najee Ali but I said that we can’t condone that so you have to do what you have to do.”

Tulloss said that he called Najee Ali and told him that he was no longer a part of NAN.

“Our parting from Najee Ali had to do with him putting his hands on his wife. He’s out of control, his mind is not right. He’s battling with whatever he’s battling with. I just fear for his wife. I didn’t want to make it public but I was convinced the truth had to be made known after he made comments about Tavis Smiley and others. He’s just as worse as them.”

Estrangement from NAN

Tulloss says that Ali has been estranged from NAN for several

Ali’s wife

months following Tulloss’ refusal to testify against Skid Row activist General Jeff for allegedly assaulting Ali.

Homeless activist Jeffrey Page, better known as General Jeff or the Mayor of Skid Row was convicted of assault on Najee Ali last month after Ali testified Jeff punched him the face.

The case centers on a November 10, 2015 meeting of the Los Angeles Police Commission where according to court papers Najee Ali told the police that General Jeff was an “activist with the Black Lives Matter Movement.” Shortly afterwards, in the lobby of LAPD headquarters, Ali was allegedly heard by officers yelling, “What the hell!” before pointing out General Jeff to the police and asking if he could have him arrested for punching him in the face.

General Jeff, a well known advocate for the homeless and Skid Row, denies being a member of Black Lives Matter or punching Najee Ali.

According to court documents, officers overheard General Jeff yell, “Don’t disrespect women!” 

Witnesses say that General Jeff, in defending Dr. Melina Abdullah, an organizer with Black Lives Matter’s Los Angeles chapter, from Ali’s verbal attacks and to make him stop, made a flinching movement toward Najee Ali to which Ali seemingly got scared before ducking and going over to the front desk to report to the police that he’d been allegedly punched in the face.

“Najee became very angry with me when I refused to testify against General Jeff,” Tulloss said. “I got subpoenaed. I went down there and I told them that I didn’t remember anything that happened. He was furious in reference to that. So Najee hasn’t been a part of NAN for a while besides him writing articles saying that he’s our political director.”

R.J. Reynolds Meeting

Once Ali was aware that Tulloss and other members of the community knew about his recent domestic violence against his wife, Tulloss says that Ali has been on a public relations rant to try and smear NAN, Tulloss and Reverend Sharpton in an attempt to try and save his public image and keep the truth from coming out.

A recent article in the Compton Herald claimed that Ali’s ousting from NAN was over a disagreement with tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company’s attempt to fight efforts by public health advocates to restrict its menthol sales. Ali says that he took money from Reynolds to his a meeting of Black leaders in South Los Angeles but later had a change of heart.

“I was paid a small sum to invite a group of leading South L.A community leaders for a private presentation on the tobacco issue a few weeks ago,” he told the Compton Herald. “But after listening to the presentation, I realized that I didn’t want an association with a corporation responsible for so much death, disease, and suffering. [Afterwards] I apologized to all my colleagues I had invited.”

Reverend Sharpton sharply contradicts that narrative.

“Whatever the difference are with the Los Angeles Chapter of NAN and Najee Ali it had nothing to do with no tobacco position because we haven’t taken a position. Our position has been that since a former congressman came to us–because Eric Garner was choked to death for selling loosies–saying that this could potentially happen again if there was a ban of menthol because it could give police the right to deal with people selling loosies in the same way–we let them come before our convention. Some of our chapter leaders were for it–some against it. They voted and agreed to do a series of forums around the country if they would pay for the travel and all for it and that was the agreement. But we didn’t take a position for or against the ban. I did one myself. I did one in Watts where I listened to those who were for the ban and those who were against it as did Reverend Tulloss. It is not true that there were differences over that. It was because when Reverend Tulloss shared with us the disturbing phone call he’d gotten from Najee’s wife and when he shared about the whole situation around Najee wanting Tulloss to testify at some police hearing that’s when there was a disagreement. It had nothing to do with tobacco.”

NAN’s L.A. Chapter President Pastor Tulloss agrees and says that the narrative Najee Ali is trying to paint is patently false and that Ali was barred from further participation with the group because of his domestic violence against his wife.

“Two years ago ex-Florida Congressman Kendrick B. Meek attended NAN’s national convention and we had a discussion in reference to the ban on menthol,” Tulloss explained. “Our group at the urging of Eric Garner’s mother decided that we were going to have these conversations across our chapters around the country. We didn’t take a position on the ban. We didn’t a stance in regards to the ban. We simply said we’d have a discussion and so that’s what we’ve been doing the last few years–having these discussions. We had one in South L.A. in January of last year and we had one in Watts during that same time period. We have still not taken a position. We just wanted to make sure we heard from everyone and got their input. So this is something we’ve been working on for a little while. So fast forward to most recently, R.J. Reynolds was coming back to the city [Los Angeles] and they asked if we could get a group of leaders together and have another discussion and we did it at the Buffalo Wild Wings where Najee Ali works in the kitchen. So they did it there and they had a discussion. We just had dialogue with community leaders–not that we’re supporting any of that stuff. We just had a conversation.”

Tulloss says that his group was not paid to host the meeting.

“I think they [R.J. Reynolds] made donations to a lot of the organizations. We [NAN] decided to do it on the basis of Eric Garner’s mother asked us to do it and that’s why we did it. But our chapter was not given any money to do it.”

Eric Garner died in in 2014 in New York City after a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer put him in what has been described as a chokehold for about 15 to 19 seconds while arresting him. The New York City Medical Examiner’s Office attributed Garner’s death to a combination of a chokehold, compression of his chest, and poor health. NYPD policy prohibits the use of chokeholds. Garner was alleged at the time of his death to have been selling “loosies” (single cigarettes without a tax stamp) in violation of New York state law. His death spawned nationwide protests against police brutality.

A History of Violence Towards Women

“We stood by Najee Ali when he got into physical confrontations with everyone from the Nation of Islam representatives there [Los Angeles] going back a few years and they wanted us to severance ties and we said no we stand by him,” said Reverend Sharpton. “He got into a whole shouting match with Maxine Waters and we stood by him. So to reduce Reverend Tulloss and them to this now when’s he defended him against Congresswoman Waters, the Nation of Islam and everyone else and then to distort it I think is unfair.”

In 2006 Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters accused Ali of stalking her and was issued a temporary restraining order against him. 

According to the Los Angeles Times, in the court filing, the congresswoman said Ali has “confronted me on several occasions.” She said she believes he is attempting to “set me up” and accused the activist of having a “long history and reputation for confrontation.”

The restraining order also stated that Ali “threatened ‘to get me some day.’ “

Ali is “attempting to create a situation that will appear to be harassment in order to sue me,” the order said. “He will stalk me. I’m very public.”

In 2008, the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper documented one of the multiple restraining orders filed against Najee Ali by various women.

Ali has had confrontations with many well-respected elected officials and community leaders including Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke, Councilman and former police chief Bernard Parks, Brother Tony Muhammad of the Nation of Islam, Laura Hendricks, a merchant in Leimert Park and even his former father-in-law, Imam Warith D. Muhammad. He has a reputation of antagonizing members of the community, forcibly intervening in the affairs of families during their time of crisis, and showing up and/calling press conferences to promote himself. Some of the mainstream media are complicit in Ali’s less-than-honorable behavior; they seem to parade him as a leader which actually insults the community where he is generally considered a person non-grata and a predator.

Hendricks is one of the individuals whom Ali has intimidated to the point that she had to get a restraining order against him. When told that he had been sent to prison, she said, “I think it’s about time that some of these things he has been doing catch up with him because he’s been slipping and sliding all through the system …. So it’s about time, that’s the way I feel.”

The slipping and sliding through the system that Hendricks referred to are the numerous encounters Ali has had with the law. He was arrested for hit-and-run for leaving the scene of an accident while he was on bail for another charge of purchasing false documents to be able to get two drivers licenses from the Department of Motor Vehicles.”

More recently after the 2015 LAPD shooting death of 43-year-old Charly “Africa” Leundeu Keunang on Skid Row, Najee Ali took to Facebook to attack and “gang bang” on well-known civil rights attorney Nana Gyamfi. Najee Ali said, “That’s on my hood. I’m easy to find,” before claiming South L.A. gang “73 (Seven Tray) Gangster Crips.”

In 2016, Najee Ali was recorded on video at a meeting of the Los Angeles Police Commission verbally assaulting Black Lives Matter Los Angeles organizer and Cal State L.A. Pan African Studies Chair Dr. Melinah Abdullah and Black Lives Matter Pasadena founder Jasmine Abdullah.

Ali, whose most recent stint in prison came after he was found guilty in 2008 of trying to tamper with a witness outside his daughter’s preliminary hearing on two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of leaving the scene of an accident, called Jasmine Abdullah a felon after she was recently convicted of felony lynching stemming from a Black Lives Matter protest.

This happened right before he attacked Marcus Vaughn, the husband of Redel Jones—a Black woman killed in South L.A. by the LAPD in 2015. When Mr. Vaughn tried to defend the two women from Ali’s attacks, Ali told him taunted him by repeating “you ain’t gone do nothing” before adding “that’s why she was killed.”

No word on if Ali will continue to enjoy his access to L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck in the wake these allegations. 

Earlier this year on the subject of domestic violence Garcetti said, “No one should ever be afraid to go home, or live under the constant threat of physical harm. We’re bringing more resources to this work — so that victims can become survivors, and more Angelenos can break free of the cycle of violence.”

NAN is currently trying to work with Najee Ali’s wife to provide her with the resources and support she needs to file criminal charges against Ali and to remove herself and daughter to a safe location away from him.

Tulloss concluded with, “At the end of the day he needs help and the only way he’s going to get help is if those within the community who say they love him really push him to get the help that he needs. That includes Mayor Garcetti, Chief Beck, Karen Bass–those that support him. The only way he’s going to get help is if us that claim that we love and appreciate him get him the help that he needs. He needs some help.”

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Jasmyne Cannick is a nationally known writer and commentator on political, race and social issues. She was selected as one of ESSENCE Magazine’s 25 Women Shaping the World, one of the Most Influential African-Americans in Los Angeles Under 40, one of Los Angeles’ Most Fascinating Angelenos by the L.A. Weekly and one of 40 People Under 40 by the Advocate. She’s worked in the U.S. House of Representatives and at all levels of government helping to shape public opinion and encourage civic engagement while advocating for underrepresented and marginalized communities in the political arena. Learn more here.

BALTIMORE-African American voters mobilized in part by the NAACP, turned out in huge numbers and played a decisive role in a special election, which elected the first Democratic Senator in Alabama in decades.

“The African-American community played a major role in this most-crucial special election,” said Derrick Johnson, NAACP President and CEO. “Our vote is reflective of the values of a nation refusing to exchange its integrity and character for the sake of selfish partisan politics. As a native Alabamian said, Black Folks saved the soul of Alabama. This vote shows that unifying interracial politics, coalition building and inspirational rhetoric can win in the South.”

Alabama State Conference and Branches working with the NAACP’s national office and partners throughout the nation was able to make over 40,000 calls to voters throughout the state and persuade them to exercise their right to vote.  The Alabama State Conference and partners conducted an unprecedented texting campaign that reached nearly 160,000 African-Americans and women throughout the state. Of the voters reached, over 90 percent informed the NAACP that they would go to the polls and vote.

“We knew it would be a hard fight to mobilize voters, but we also had an idea of the consequences if the Black vote in Alabama stayed silent,” said NAACP Alabama State President Benard Simelton. “Those of us who know the history of Alabama with its Jim Crow and segregationist attitude, understand the importance of the vote and why not only have we got to ensure that we use it, but that we continue to protect it from any attempts at suppression,” added Simelton.

In the special election, Democrat Doug Jones garnered a reported 49.9 percent of the vote compared to 48.4 percent for Republican challenger Roy Moore to win the seat vacated by former Senator and current U.S. Attorney General Jefferson Sessions.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- Crystal Wymer-Lucero, who has worked on the Cal State San Bernardino campus for more than 12 years, rising through the ranks at the university, most recently serving as the Alumni Engagement director, has been named the CSUSB Alumni Affairs director. 

Wymer-Lucero’s appointment will begin on Jan. 1, 2018. Wymer-Lucero, ’07, previously served as the Development and Special Events coordinator in Intercollegiate Athletics as well as the Information Security Awareness coordinator in the Division of Information Technology Services.

During her time in Alumni Relations, Wymer-Lucero was part of the team that increased the number of unique alumni volunteers by nearly 400 percent since 2015. She also helped create the CSUSB Alumni Workshop Series, which has reached more than 400 unique alumni since its inception.

“I’m delighted to have one of our alumni leading Alumni Relations,” said Ron Fremont, vice president of University Advancement. “Crystal brings enthusiasm and dedication to her role in leading the department, and her knowledge of CSUSB as a student, an alumna and as a staff member give her a unique insight of the university that will ultimately benefit our alumni and engage new generations of alumni.”

Over the past two years Wymer-Lucero and her colleagues have grown the Alumni Mentor Program by nearly 200 percent and established a new Alumni Association Board of Directors. During that same span, the Alumni Association has welcomed thousands of alumni back to their alma mater through homecoming celebrations and special events, and contributed to doubling the growth of alumni association memberships.

In September 2017, Alumni Relations celebrated CSUSB’s inaugural graduating class with a special reunion of Golden Grads, who were honored at Convocation.

“I am excited and honored to have been selected to serve as the Director of Alumni Relations at my alma mater,” said Wymer-Lucero. “CSUSB has a vibrant, talented, and diverse alumni community in all 50 states and 43 counties, and working to strengthen ties to CSUSB no matter where our alumni reside will truly be fulfilling and rewarding.”

Wymer-Lucero will oversee the operations of the Office of Alumni Relations, including the CSUSB Alumni Association and its chapters, and the Student Ambassadors Society. In addition, she will serve as a key member of the University Advancement leadership team, collaborating with our alumni, our division and the campus community.

Wymer-Lucero was awarded a bachelor’s degree in communication studies with an emphasis in mass media and working toward a master’s degree in communication studies integrated marketing track.

For more information about Cal State San Bernardino’s Alumni Affairs, visit www.csusb.edu/alumni.

Michael Angelo Newell

By Lue Dowdy

Writer, rap artist, and producer Michael Angelo Newell is What It Do!

Performing and music is a passion of Michael’s. I’ve had the opportunity to see this dude rip the MIC on several occasions. His energy level is through the roof.

Michael Angelo Newell has a way of commanding the audience. He keeps the crowd engaged whether it’s him performing or someone else. Majoring in Audio Production from the Arts Institute of San Bernardino, Micheal would like to use the skills gained to further his music career and to help other artists. He has collaborated on several projects with artists from the Inland Empire and beyond.

 Currently, he’s working on his new project titled, “Highly Seasoned,” which is scheduled to drop soon.

 “I love working in my community and with the youth,”  Micheal states.

 Having many talents he took runner up in LUE Productions 2017 Big Sexy Man Competition. Please be on the lookout for this artist because there’s more to come. For a sneak peek of the new music please contact him directly at Micangelw14@gmail.com.

Until Next week L’s!