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(from left to right) CEO of Black Business Expo, Jerry Green; President of the Black Chamber of Commerce Inland Empire, Tammy Martin-Ryles; Black is Lit Founder, Winter Minisee; and Host of “Empire Talks Back”, Wallace.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- Sunday’s “Empire Talks Back” (ETB) radio broadcast was amazing as usual.  Their special guest, Winter Minisee, 16-year old founder of ‘Black is Lit’, had no problem tackling all our world issues. Watch the video of the show live at www.ustream.tv/search?q=empire+talks+back.

ETB is broadcast each Sunday morning at 10 a.m. on KCAA 1050-AM, 102.3 FM and 106.5 FM Radio, and it streams live at www.kcaaradio.com.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- Last week Assemblymember Eloise Reyes launched her inaugural Senior Advocacy Week from August 14 to 18.  During Senior Advocacy Week Assemblymember Reyes visited 15 senior facilities and met directly with hundreds of seniors to hear about their challenges and to identify ways on how to improve the quality of life for seniors in the Inland Empire.

“With over 200,000 Seniors in San Bernardino County, their specific issues and concerns can’t be ignored,” said Assemblymember Reyes “We will take a proactive approach to address the serious issues that are impacting their daily lives. In the 8 months since I have been in office seniors have shared with me the inequitable policies that diminish their quality of life, including lack of income, public transportation, unnecessary fees, lack of community spaces and affordable housing.”

The next decade is expected to see a boom in the over 65 population in California.  According to the Public Policy Institute of California the senior population in California will grow by four million people.  By 2030 over 1 million seniors are expected to need some assistance with self-care and another 100,000 will require nursing home care which will have a direct impact on state funding for senior care.  This has far reaching implications as the state will need more facilities and trained workers to assist the senior population as well as policies that allow seniors to stay longer in their own homes.  California will need a spectrum of policy responses to protect and advance the needs of aging populations.

RIVERSIDE, CA- On Saturday, August 20, Riverside Community Health Foundation held their annual “My Hair, My Health” conference at Riverside City College. The conference featured speakers, vendors, activities and a documentary screening. Dr. Leita Harris, of Nurturing You Women’s Health and Wellness, spoke on “My Hair, My Hormones”. Dr. Dede Teteh also spoke where she held a dialogue session entitled, “Sister to Sister.”

Kim Carter

SACRAMENTO, CA- On Tuesday, August 15, Time For Change Foundation founder, Kim Carter, traveled to Sacramento for her Governor’s Pardon Review. It has been 24 years in the making. Time For Change’s mission is to empower disenfranchised, low-income individuals and families by building leadership through evidence-based programs and housing to create self-sufficiency and thriving communities.

Carter has led an extraordinary life. Like the phoenix rising from the ashes, she overcame a dark past filled with addiction, abuse, homelessness, and imprisonment. During her battle, one choice would change the course of her life forever: she was chosen to participate in rehabilitative program and for the first time in her life she was offered treatment and a solution.

After treatment and counseling, Carter began working as an accountant. She had reintegrated back into society and was able to reunify with her daughter. Life was finally good, but she felt that there was still more for her.

“I knew that my life had meaning and that I had to go through the darkness to get to where I am today,” said Carter.

After starting Time for Change Foundation she knew she had found her purpose. Aside from providing homeless women and children with a place to call home, she became an advocate and started to develop leaders out of the women she was helping.

Over the last 15 years, Carter and TFCF have helped over 1,000 homeless women and children in San Bernardino County achieve self-sufficiency, 227 children have been reunified with their mothers, and in 2015 she was honored as one of CNN’s top 10 heroes of the year.

Her impact on society is evident through her advocacy work and history of awards and accolades from esteemed public figures and organizations. Through her work, she has empowered others to be the agent of change by using their voices and votes to make a difference. She is a published author, motivational speaker, and life coach and trainer. Carter is instrumental in making laws and creating programs that work to end homelessness, which includes emergency shelter, permanent supportive, and affordable housing services. 

When asked why she pursued a Governor’s Pardon, Carter responded, “I want my life to be a testimony and to break the generational cycle of incarceration. I want to leave a positive legacy for my family. This is something that I pray will have an everlasting impact for many generations to come. They will have the freedom and opportunities to make a far greater impact in the world than I.”

Jordyn Grady displaying her medals and ring that she won in the AAU Junior National Olympics. (Photo Credit: Naomi K. Bonman)

By Naomi K. Bonman

Great athletes always start young and stay focus on perfecting their craft. Upland High School freshman, Jordyn Grady, is one of those athletes. In her course of running track for six years, her perfection of her craft has paid off in the AAU Junior Olympic Games which were held from July 30 to August 5 in Detroit, Michigan.

Grady, who regularly runs the 100 and 200 hurdles as well as the 100 and 200 meters, took first place in the 14-year-old girls division while running the 100 and 200 hurdles. Her time in the 100 hurdles was 14.26 seconds and 26.66 seconds in the 200 hurdles. She was the only San Bernardino and California native that competed in those races.

While being a stellar athlete, she is also able to maintain an A and B average in school. “I know that school comes first and then sports,” Grady states of how she manages to balance both sports and her studies.

After high school, she wants to continue to run track, as well as to study to become a Veterinarian because she loves animals.

With students preparing to head back to school, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) urges parents and guardians to check the vaccine record of their children. Many vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles, can easily spread in child care and school settings.

“By getting children all the vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), parents can protect their children from serious diseases,” said Dr. Karen Smith, CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer. “If you haven’t done so already, check with your child’s doctor to find out what vaccines your child needs before going back to school.”

When children are not vaccinated, they are at increased risk for getting sick and spreading diseases to students in their classrooms, and children and adults within their communities. Babies who are too young to be fully vaccinated, and people with weakened immune systems due to cancer or other health conditions are especially susceptible.

California law requires students to receive certain immunizations to attend public and private elementary and secondary schools as well as licensed child care centers. Schools and licensed child care centers are required to enforce immunization requirements, maintain immunization records of all children enrolled, and report student immunization status to CDPH.

Last April, CDPH reported encouraging results from the annual immunization assessment of children attending kindergarten in California in the 2016-17 school year. The report found that vaccination rates are at record levels: compared to 2015-16 results, the percentage of students attending kindergarten in 2016-17 who had received all required vaccines rose from 93 percent to 96 percent.

“Let’s keep raising our immunization rates in schools and daycares to keep our children healthy and in the classroom,” said Dr. Smith.

To learn more about the vaccination rate of your child’s school or childcare is, go to the Shots for School website, scroll down to the left bottom of the page and click on the “How many students in your school have required shots?” banner. Enter the name of your child’s school or daycare in the online tool.

Visit Shots for School for more information on immunizations for school children in California at www.shotsforschool.org.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- From cobblestone streets in European cities to lush greenery in tropical paradises, Cal State San Bernardino offers students an array of locations to study abroad. With more than 20 countries available, and 14 programs scheduled during summer 2017 alone, there is a place of interest for virtually every student.

The annual three-week study abroad program to Jamaica and the annual four-week program to London both wrapped up in July. The programs, like all CSUSB’s study abroad programs, are a blend of traditional academic studies and cultural exploration.

This year, 12 students participated in the Jamaica study abroad program, which took place June 26 to July 16. The program began in 2006 and materialized after Rafik Mohamed, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, spent 10 days on the island as a member of the production staff for a large music festival.

“I spent most of my time with Jamaicans who were also working for the festival, and they introduced me to places and people tourists typically don’t encounter,” said Mohamed, who also has ancestral connections to Jamaica. “Because of that experience, and more significant than my family ties, I felt Jamaica was a place that could meaningfully put on display for students what I’ve come to describe as the ‘paradox of paradise.’”

According to Mohamed, Jamaicans often refer to their homeland as “the land of contradictions.” While it is often viewed as a tropical utopia, Jamaica faces many social challenges and is heavily tied to its colonial past.

“We, therefore, challenge our student-participants to consider the contradictions captured by this juxtaposition between the images of Jamaica put forward by the Jamaica Tourist Board and the vastly different economic and social conditions experienced by everyday Jamaicans,” said Mohamed.

Through an interdisciplinary curriculum and community engagement involving formal partnership with local community agencies, the program offers students an overview of Caribbean society and culture from the beginning of the trans-Atlantic slave trade to the present. Activities include visiting different towns and historical plantations, hiking up waterfalls and even touring musician Bob Marley’s home.

“I really enjoyed the activities since they were related to what we learned in class,” said Jasmin Limon Acosta, biological psychology major. “It was a really great experience embracing it all and seeing how different the culture is.

I also liked where we stayed — it was very local and we got to speak to a lot of the locals and interact with them.”

Students learn from various texts including poems, short stories, music, and historical and sociological articles and essays. The program includes curriculum from sociology, marine science, English, communication, philosophy and theater. Mohamed plans to add anthropology to the agenda in 2018.

“Participating in the Jamaica summer study abroad program was an experience I will never forget. From the classes, readings, excursions and tours, to the community involvement and social gatherings, I will admit that it made learning about the Jamaican culture much richer than sitting in a classroom and getting lectured on it,” said psychology major Ana Romero Baltazar.

“With the knowledge I have gained from this trip, I feel as if I can see the world with a much more open mind, and make connections that I could not have been able to do so before learning a bit more about the history of a different culture,” Baltazar said. “The three weeks felt as if they flew by, but I am thankful for each day I was there, for all the people I met, and for the way the program was structured and put together.”

The London study abroad program, which took place June 27 to July 28, was led by Bradford Owen, associate professor in the communication studies department, and Cherstin Lyon, associate professor in the history department.

Twenty students immersed themselves in academic classroom teachings as well as excursions to cultural sites, theater plays and historical places of interest.

“London is a richly multicultural city with inhabitants from all over the world,” said Owen, who lived and taught in London for an academic year while he was a visiting assistant professor in USC Annenberg School of Communication’s London Program. Owen also co-founded the London study abroad program in 2013 and has co-directed it for the last five years.

For biology major Gabriela Ochoa, it was a trip of a lifetime, satisfying both her desire to travel to London and her college requirements.

“I knew my parents didn’t have the resources to send me on their own, and when I saw I can go with school, I took the opportunity,” she said. “Not only was I visiting the city of my dreams, but I also got school credit for it.”

The academic courses, which were held at the FSU London Study Centre, included HUM 340: Interpretation and Values, taught by Owen, and SSCI 325: Perspectives on Gender, taught by Lyon. HUM 340 explored the similarities and differences in British and American values and cultures through British cinema, while SSCI 325 used scientific, humanistic and social science perspectives to foster an understanding of how gender roles in Western culture are established, maintained and changed.

Syeda Rahman, an English literature major, took Owen’s HUM 340 class. “The course was designed not to overwhelm us with assignments, but to soak in the entire experience, including excursions, the topics we talked about, our stay at Newman House, our stay as a group and also the class assignments. I thought, overall, it was great learning experience.”

Liberal studies major Jocelyn Rodriguez found Lyon’s SSCI 325 course to be eye opening. “Dr. Lyon is a really great professor, and she was able to get us to see gender through multiple different lenses that I would never think to view it through.”

The program also offered HUM 582: European Experience, an independent study course in which a student undertakes independent work under supervision.

To learn more about the city, students participated in four day-long excursions, which included a six-hour walking tour around central London, and admission to six major sites: Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, Windsor Castle, Hampton Court, the Churchill War Rooms and Tower Bridge Exhibit. In addition, students partook in out-of-town trips to Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bath.

For Karen Watkins, who graduated this past June with a bachelor’s in sociology, these trips related perfectly to what she was learning in Owen’s HUM 340 course. “I enjoyed how our class discussions and films revolved with what we had already seen or were about to see. London was indescribably beautiful. Everything I saw, I will carry with me.”

The program also featured five in-London events, including two theater performances (one at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre), a guided tour of the Tate Modern gallery, the “Making of Harry Potter” tour at Warner Brothers UK, and a farewell afternoon tea.

For the first time in the program, CSUSB President Tomás D. Morales met with the study abroad group for a couple days. He visited Lyon’s SSCI 325 class one morning and joined the group for a walking tour in East London.

“I truly enjoyed having President Morales in London,” said Syeda Rahman, who believes the president’s visit broke many barriers for a lot of the students. “Now I feel that I can go up to him and have a conversation or just write to him. I think it was a great opportunity for me to have him in London because I probably would have graduated without even getting to know the president of the university.”

Jocelyn Rodriguez enjoyed her experience with President Morales as well, and feels she got to know him on a one-on-one basis. “I was able to ask him questions about his life, his education and how he got to where he is in life right now.”

CSUSB also offers summer study abroad programs to places like Mexico City, Italy, Costa Rica, Spain and Taiwan.

For more information on study abroad programs at CSUSB, visit the Center for International Studies & Programs at international.csusb.edu/studyabroad.aspx.

For more information on Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Strategic Communication at (909) 537-5007 and visit news.csusb.edu.

William Lacey, Class of ’18, provides live vocals for “I Will Never Leave” by Maura Townsend’s Project21Dance.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- Good food and fine entertainment always seem to go well together, especially for San Bernardino Valley College student William Lacey, 26, of Highland.

This master of the arts is not quite sure which one will win out in the end?—?his standout vocals or culinary prowess. Eventually, he would like to combine them at his own restaurant where he can train chefs to prepare Cajun cuisine, and maybe indulge his operatic side every now and again.

Lacey is a natural classical aficionado. He has had three years of classical vocal training at SBVC, and credits his instructors for keeping him on track with his career and education.

A private voice class helped Lacey hone his skill, and one day after choir, he sang the national anthem for SBVC Music Department Chair Matie Manning Scully.

“She looked at me and said ‘Kiddo, you’ve got a great voice. I would love to work with you.’ It started from there.”

Lacey also performs regularly with choreographer Maura Townsend and her Project21Dance Company. During Black History Month, he sang his richly-layered baritone rendition of Paul Robeson’s “Ol’ Man River” as part of Townsend’s “Hope Through the Struggle” event held at San Bernardino Valley College.

He said that Ms. Townsend, an adjunct professor at the college, has also been instrumental in giving him a creative venue for his artistic side.

“From that point, we kind of hit the ground running. She asked me to join her company, and I continue to do pieces with her dancers,” he said.

Lacey grew up in the city of Highland, where his grandmother was his best critic at church and home. It’s also where he, his mother and grandmother would often sing gospel and cook large family meals together. When his grandmother passed away, it was the toughest time of his life. He barely spoke complete sentences throughout junior high school.

In 2018, Lacey is on track to graduate with an A.S. in Restaurant Management and an A.S. in Business Administration. He credits SBVC with giving him the tools to move forward with confidence. 

Over the past four years, he has worked as Chef De Partie at Forest Home, Inc., where he navigates a fast-paced food environment, oversees utility workers, and handles about one million meals per year. In the past, he has interned at the Hilton Hotel and the Sun Room Cafe as a line cook.

When he first started at SBVC, his goal was culinary arts, but he soon fell in love with opera in his choir class elective. Without any prior formal training, developing his operatic side came with a learning curve. It took about two months for his voice to readjust to a classical tone.

“I’m connected to it, I listen closely to the detail, the emotion in their voices because I understand it now,” he said.

In his day job, he prepares breakfast, lunch, and dinner with finesse, and is also known as “the singing chef.” It’s an unexpected niche that often draws an encore.

“I’ll sing a song about halfway through the meal. If the people like it, they say, ‘Oh, can you sing another song before we leave?’ It works, I get to sing opera to an audience that actually enjoys it.”

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD) students return to school on Monday, August 7. Monday is a regular school day. Late start and early dismissal schedules begin the second week of school.

A copy of the 2017–2018 school-year calendar is available for you to view and download at http://bernardino.ss13.sharpschool.com/cms/One.aspx?portalId=59953&pageId=360733.

Parents who need to enroll their child should do so at their child’s home school. Call Boundaries at (909) 388-6100 or use the School Site Locator program by visiting http://apps.schoolsitelocator.com/?districtcode=43985 to determine a child’s home school.

Parents of students with Individual Education Plans (IEPs) should contact the Special Education department at (909) 880-6863 with questions or concerns about school enrollment.

CAPS Expanded Learning, the SBCUSD before- and after-school program, is not in session on Monday, August 7. Before- and after-school programs begin on Tuesday, August 8.

SBCUSD is focusing on student attendance in the coming school year. Every day your child attends school is an opportunity to learn and be successful. Every day your child misses school is a lost opportunity that puts him or her behind their peers.

Although we are half way through summer, the kiddos are still trying to enjoy their last few days before it’s time to hit the books again, and not to mention the days are still hot and just getting hotter! Whether you spend these hot days outside having picnics or enjoying that dip in the ocean or pool, it is important to stay safe. The American Red Cross offers these 15 safety tips to make sure your summer fun stays safe, fun and stress free.

HEAT SAFETY.

1. Stay hydrated, drink plenty of fluids. Avoid drinks with caffeine or alcohol.
2. Wear loose-fitting, lightweight, light-colored clothing. Avoid dark colors – they absorb the sun’s rays.
3. Slow down, stay indoors. Avoid strenuous exercise during the hottest part of the day.
4. Use a buddy system when working in excessive heat. Take frequent breaks if working outdoors.
5. Check on family, friends and neighbors who do not have air conditioning, who spend much of their time alone or who are more likely to be affected by the heat. 

WATER SAFETY.

1. Do your part, be water smart! Ensure that everyone in the family learns to swim well.
2. Actively supervise children by staying within arm’s reach of young children and newer swimmers.
3. Don’t fool with a pool: fence it in. Enclose your pool and spa with four-sided, four-foot fencing and use self-closing, self-latching gates.
4. Don’t just pack it; wear your U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket – always when on a boat and if in a situation beyond your skill level. Inflatable children’s toys and water wings can be fun, but they are no substitute for a life jacket and close adult supervision.
5. Swim as a pair near a lifeguard’s chair – everyone, including experienced swimmers, should swim with a buddy in areas protected by lifeguards.

GRILLING SAFETY.

1. Always supervise a barbecue grill when in use. Don’t add charcoal starter fluid when coals have already been ignited.
2. Never grill indoors – not in your house, camper, tent, or any enclosed area.
3. Make sure everyone, including pets, stays away from the grill.
4. Keep the grill out in the open, away from the house, the deck, tree branches, or anything that could catch fire.
5. Use long-handled tools especially made for cooking on the grill to keep the chef safe.

The Red Cross Emergency App can help keep you and your loved ones safe by putting vital information in your hand for more than 35 different severe weather and emergency alerts. The Red Cross Swim App promotes water safety education and helps parents and caregivers of young people learning how to swim. The Red Cross First Aid App gives instant access to expert guidance on handling the most common first aid emergencies at your fingertips. Download these apps by searching for ‘American Red Cross’ in your app store or at redcross.org/apps.