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Keith Magee

By Keith Magee

For the last four visible years America has endured, once again, the polarizing effects of racism and injustice. Yet, instead of the perpetrators wearing white sheets and lynching African Americans and with coral ropes as they did decade’s prior, they now wear blue uniforms and use issued firearms.

The loss of Trayvon, Eric, Tamir, Sandra, Freddie, Korryn, Alton, Terence, Keith, and all of the others we name, came not because their assassins feared them but, because they believed their lives didn’t matter. Secretly, I’ve wept at my core when I hear the news that they have taken another life. Even when I’m driving my car with my 2-year-old Zayden, I pray that our lives will matter.

As the numbers of African-American lives continue to be disproportionately taken, many onlookers (primarily Millennials), have come with demands and questions about whether those in power believe that #BlackLivesMatter. And if so, why is injustice prevailing in the loss of these lives? The Black Lives Matter movement does not assert that other’s lives do not matter. It aims to draw attention for the need for understanding if those who enact, execute, frame and inform the law also value Black lives.

In my youth, every evening we had to offer a scripture, after prayer, before we could partake of supper. We would all eagerly go for “Jesus Wept” because it was the easiest to remember. As I sit most evenings unable to eat, sickened to my stomach, praying and searching the scripture for meaning, I ponder why did Jesus weep.

The scriptures have three recordings of Jesus weeping. The most notable is because he loved Lazarus, and Martha and Mary. Even in knowing that Lazarus would be raised again, Jesus’ human nature and pain mourned, both in relation to their present pain and even their unbelief. Jesus also wept when the chosen people failed to keep the city ‘holy’ and set apart from other world powers …He saw the city and wept over it. The other prominent presence of his weeping is found in a garden. Jesus wept sweat “…like great drops of blood,” as he prayed to his Father, knowing his time had come to die for a humanity that might never get it.

Why did Jesus weep? Was it because he was fully human and, yet, fully divine, feeling the spiritual and nature pain of the people? Was it from his humanity and divinity, where he felt love, disappointment, loss, grief and sadness-every human emotion that evokes tears from the heart?

One doesn’t have to be dead to grieve death and dying. Grieving calls us into an experience of raw immediacy that is often devastating. In A Grief Observed, a collection of reflections on the experience of bereavement, author C.S. Lewis reveals that “No one ever told me that grief was so much like fear.

Tears, the lachrymal gland, responds to the emotion of awe, pleasure, love and, yes, sorrow. They are the fluids that rest in the ducts that can cause you to lose sight and can run down into your nose, all because of sorrow not joy. And, when the heart weeps it is beyond the liquid into the small channels that flow into the tear sac. It is a pain that is likening to the sound of sorrow from the mothers, fathers, family members, who have lost their loved ones in the midst of these murders and executions. “I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach, the same restlessness, the yawning. I keep on swallowing.” As an African American male, I can relate to Lewis because seemingly everyday my life is at risk. I swallow grief and fear that I, or one of my brothers, our children, or mothers, are next.

It was the sorrow of a suffering people that gave cause to ecumenical faith leaders becoming the catalyst for a civil rights movement for a “Righteous America.” These faith leaders used their sacred spaces to address the grave concerns for the least-advantaged among them. As an American society founded on a hunger and thirst for religious freedom was turning a deaf ear to the pleas of a marginalized people, certain that God’s creation suffered no stratification; these likeminded humanitarians, across racial identity, leading the charge for equality. They understood why Jesus wept, as did Jehovah, Allah, the Buddha, and many others spiritual leaders who wept too.

Recently, America lost an African-American male musical icon, Prince, though not at the hands of those in Blue. I mostly remember him for Purple Rain, in particular “When Doves Cry.” Though is it understood that these lyrics spoke to a failed relationship between two people, I purport that it speaks more to the sound of the doves. When doves cry, as they soar, it is a sorrowful song and yet in the sound we find a message of life, hope, renewal and peace.

Could the Prince of Peace be sending us a prophetic message that even in these moments of tragedy there is hope for better days? As we stand through our sorrow, will we be able to earnestly declare that #BlackLivesMatter too?

Keith Magee is a public intellectual who focuses on economics, social justice and theology. He is currently Senior Researcher of Culture and Justice, University College London, Culture; Director, The Social Justice Institute at the Elie Wiesel Center on the campus of Boston University, where he is a Scholar in Residence; and Senior Pastor, The Berachah Church at the Epiphany School, Dorchester Centre, MA. For more information visit www.4justicesake.org or follow him on social media @keithlmagee.

By Lue Dowdy

What an amazing night I had with my LUE Productions Fam on the Red-Carpet. LUE Productions had the opportunity to host the red-carpet and conduct live interviews. From the moment we walked in it was non-stop fun and laughter.

OMG! OMG! The host Comedian Brandon Wiley did his thang. He kept the audience lively and ready. Comedians, Miss Arkansas, Paul Smokey Deese, and Sherwin Arae made you crack the hell up. The funny and beautiful Lunell was the headliner for the night. The audience waited in anticipation for this Queen to step to the MIC with the funnies. She bagged on folks! She talked a lot about that mouth to mouth, and bedroom antics we deal with as older women. Let’s just say she got a lot of “I know that’s right.” I so love the fact that she’s not afraid to go all in. The audience was happy that Lunell came to the Inland Empire.

We saw familiar faces and met new ones. Local artists such as VCD, a female rap group here in the Dino blessed our ear-gates. We need more affordable events like this here in our city. I’d like to shout out Theo Evans of “Clowning on Earth Entertainment” for having us. I want to also shout out Deeveatva Foy, our BBW Queen Dee Dela Cruz, and BBW Model Ericca Cross, Robert of “ILondon Fog Productions”, Kyru of “Everythangnycce Productions”, and Freddie Washington of “FW Photography” for holding down the red-carpet and capturing the special moments. We all made an awesome TEAM!

Need us to host your next Red-Carpet Event? Contact us immediately! We have affordable rates. LUE Productions always come professional but is about that TU and having FUN! Make sure you catch our Indie Artist Award Show MY MUSIC, MY MIC on Saturday, October 15th. Until next week L’z!

#LUEPRODUCTIONS @LUEPRODUCTIONS 909.567.1000 www.lueproductions.org.

LOMA LINDA, CA- Arrowhead Regional Medical Center Clinical Social Worker, Kendra Flores?Carter, was recognized this week for her work assisting women who are experiencing postpartum depression (PPD). Following an examination of evidence?based research, Carter developed and implemented a highly successful therapeutic support group for women experiencing symptoms of PPD.

“I am honored to receive this award,” said Carte r, who has been working at ARMC since 2007. “I learned through my research that one in seven women will experience PPD after giving birth, and women who experience PPD are often stigmatized and can feel shame and embarrassment.

“When I started this program about a year ago, it was just me providing the maternal depression educational materials to my patients, but now our whole team provides this education to our patients.”

Carter’s innovative efforts to educate and raise awareness also extend to collaborating with the San Bernardino County Maternal Mental Health (MMH) Work Group and Children’s Network as a means to build and strengthen relationships with community partners.

“Kendra truly embodies and carries out the mission of ARMC, and the Countywide Vision, on a daily basis, as she conducts assessments, provides counseling, and offers valuable education and resources for our patients, their families, and our community,” said ARMC Director, William Gilbert. “We believe that ARMC can serve as a model hospital for this type of education.”

Carter, who has a bachelor’s degree in psychology, obtained her master’s in Social Work (MSW) from California State University, Long Beach in 2007. She is currently working toward her Doctor of Social Work (DSW) through the University of Tennessee, and is expected to earn her doctorate in 2017.

Photo credit Freddie Washington

By Naomi K. Bonman

After a two year process of grinding it out, The Diamond Monologues finally came to life on Saturday, October 1 in Ontario, California. The Diamond Monologues has been in the works by author and now playwright, T’ana Phelice. In order for the play to be a success like it was, Phelice had to ensure that she had the right team in place and the right girls to bring the monologues to life, and it was well worth the wait!

Jacquene Richardson. Photo credit Freddie Washington

The evening began with an empowerment series with speakers Nakea Brown, Rebuild Your Laugh; and Karla Quebec, Mrs. Latina Global (Guatemala) contestant. Brown prophesied on being ‘The Message’. We each have a message that we have been called to give out to the people through our passions, gifts, and purpose. Quebec followed by giving her personal and very deep testimony of what her childhood and teenage years were like and how they formed her into becoming the strong woman that she is today. To compliment the speakers, Jacquene Richardson also gave her testimony through spoken word.

Photo credit Freddie Washington

The pieces of the puzzle would not be complete without the diamond of the show. These five ladies did an excellent job in bringing the characters of the book to life and tapping into what their character went through to relate to it and make the issue their own. The cast included: Asia Smith (Tia), T’ana Phelice (Monqiue, writer), Precious Chapman (Sheena, Director), Karina “KJ” Johns (Bernice), and Ericka Marmolej (Veronica).

For those that missed, you definitely missed a phenomenal show! But you will have another chance to see it in Los Angeles, California in January 2017. To keep updated on the exact show date and time or to purchase a book, please visit www.tanaphelice.com.

Karla Quebec. Photo credit Freddie Washington

Photo credit Freddie Washington

Photo credit Freddie Washington

Photo credit Freddie Washington

Lou Coleman

By Lou Coleman

Why did you let this happen? Why did you let that happen? Why Lord, why? I tell you we are always quick to ask, “Why Lord?” ”Why Me?” when it seems like things is going bad and we need someone to blame. Well I want you to know that playing the blame game with God is always going to be a losing proposition. I tell you many of us blame God for everything! I wonder though, do we ever think about the flip side to that coin! Why don’t we look around for someone to blame when things are going good? I’ll tell you why… because when things are going good, were always the one to blame, or take the credit. I did it! It was me…! Hello! But what I want you to know is that the accuser, Satan is the one who is guilty of condemnation, that’s all he does and yet he usually gets blamed for nothing. You should be mad as Hell with Satan; because he is the one behind most of the problems you are having; Most of the fear, worry, doubt, guilt, in your life. I tell you some of us come to church Sunday after Sunday acting like all hope is lost. We behave like Israelites living in a strange land. We exhibit the same defeated spirit as the children of Israel when we declare: “Praise the Lord, O my soul”… as long as everything is going well for me and…, “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want”… as long as I have money in the bank…. Not to mention, I’m like a tree planted by living water”… when I have a good job and a loving mate… Oh, but when the storm winds blow against us and our money is in short supply, we quickly get a case of spiritual amnesia. We don’t want to hear the fact that the rain falls on the just as well as the unjust [Matt. 5:45]. We feel as if life has dealt us a bad hand and our lips utter the agonizing refrain, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” [Matt. 27:46].

What you need to remember is that the hand of the Lord is always upon you to guide, strengthen and protect you [Ezekiel chapter 37]. The text goes on to say that the Lord’s Spirit deliberately set Ezekiel in the midst of a valley full of bones. Ezekiel was not in that horrid valley because he wanted to be. Rather, God placed him to that desolate place for a reason. Once, Ezekiel stood in the valley, the Lord asked him a penetrating question, “Son of man, can these dry bones live?” (v.3). In other words, God challenged Ezekiel to assess the situation and determine if anything could be done to improve it. Ezekiel studied the ground full of bones; no blood to sustain life; no muscle to enable movement; no vital organs; no attached limbs; no flesh to cover the body; nothing to indicate that life existed. “But the question asked of Ezekiel was, can these bones live?” How would you have answered the Lord’s question about the revitalization of dry bones? Ezekiel’s response to God’s question demonstrated his faith and wisdom. He answered, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army. Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones is the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘this is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.” ….. I tell you, you need to start prophesying to the situations and circumstances in your life and stop blaming God for everything bad. Start declaring and decrees what thus saith the Lord. Amen. It is finished! [Isaiah 55:8, 9] [James 1:2].

By Eric Easter, Urban News Service

The just-opened National Museum of African American History and Culture is a work-in-progress — in every way. Surprisingly, this is its best asset.

In one way, that description is literal. On Media Day, less than 10 days before its grand opening, the museum’s grounds still were littered with the cigarette butts, snack bags and other leftovers from the hundreds of construction workers who put the final touches on the building.

Inside, journalists scoured the space for stories to tell. They navigated around carts that carried pieces of exhibits yet to be nailed in and observed priceless objects amid handwritten signs whose installation instructions read “too tall” and “put nothing on top.”

Yet even with the museum finally open for business, it remains incomplete — by design. Six hundred years of African American history — and the culture that grew from centuries of struggle, pain and triumph — is too sweeping an epic to contain on a few floors. The only way to do so is to consider the museum not a permanent collection of  artifacts, but a living space that will evolve, shift, re-focus and re-invent itself — just  like the community it seeks to reflect.

The extraordinary effort to fund and build the new museum has overshadowed the even harder work performed by the museum’s curators. They gathered and edited the more-than-37,000-item collection into a coherent narrative.

The decision to start the museum’s story in pre-colonial, 15^th-Century Africa involved an “intense” process, said Mary Elliott, curator of the museum’s history section. She consulted noted scholars including Ira Berlin, Eric Foner and Annette Gordon Reed to help set the necessary context for the full museum. But Elliott soon realized that a full reading of that time would be “too dense” for the average museum-goer.

“We needed to start with the reality of a free Africa and its position as a center of trade,” said Elliott. “But we wanted to go much deeper into the stories of the Italian role in financing the slave trade, as well as a more in-depth look at conditions in Europe that set the stage. But that’s a lot to ingest for the average museum-goer.”

The need to add some things and delete others at times was “heartbreaking.”

Those decisions, no doubt, will cause some to quibble about the tone, length or depth of some exhibits. And some criticisms will be fair. The displays on Reconstruction and the role of blacks in the military seem especially short given the importance of those themes.

But those arguments don’t account for the realities of a museum audience raised on Twitter, Wikipedia and TV on-demand. The tourist who tries to squeeze in all of Washington’s 17 Smithsonian museums in a few days will lack the capacity to absorb generations of pain and progress in one fell swoop. Return visits will be a must.

Still, those who want to go deeper will get that opportunity. The museum offers a full-time staff genealogist to help families discover their roots. Scholars can enjoy the museum’s research rooms. Public programming and temporary exhibits will let curators breathe more life into subject matter and explore contemporary themes and issues via multimedia and assorted technologies.

As a full body of work, the museum is a treasure. Its existence tells a story and stands as a tribute to a culture that has triumphed amid adversity. The displays simply accentuate that idea through stories that are tragic, critical, objective and, ultimately, celebratory. It is a museum about American possibility, as told through the story of a people whose American-ness too often has been denied and questioned. This museum should end such doubts.

What visitors will experience is best exemplified in a moment that occurred during one of many pre-opening receptions.

Speaking at an event hosted by Google, former Rep. Susan Molinari (R – New York), who is white, shared her experience at the museum. She fought through tears as she recalled one section that particularly resonated with her. The mostly black audience reacted politely. Many of them later said that, because of their own families’ legacies, they might have reacted differently to the same moment.

That may be what happens to everyone who passes through the museum’s doors. What one sees and experiences will be very different — depending on the history, knowledge and perspective that one carries through the entrance. That, in the end, is the true power of the place.

RIVERSIDE, CA- Effective October 3, Metrolink’s Pedley station on the Riverside Line will be renamed to the Jurupa Valley/Pedley station.          

The station’s name is being updated to reflect the city’s incorporation as Jurupa Valley.

When the Pedley station was created in 1993, it was located in an unincorporated area of Riverside County. In 2011, this 44-square mile region was incorporated as the City of Jurupa Valley, which encompasses the Metrolink Pedley station.

Due to the renaming of the station, ticket vending machines will require passengers to select “J” for Jurupa Valley/Pedley instead of “P” for fare media to and from the station formerly known as Pedley. 

Pedley station information seen in the Metrolink timetable, station signage, online, and other sources will be listed as Jurupa Valley/Pedley information as of October 3.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- United Nations of Consciousness is now accepting enrollment in their Youth Afterschool Enrichment Program. Program begins in October 2016. Pre-Register by visiting www.uncyouth.org

Registration is on a first come, first serve basis, with priority given to San Bernardino City Unified School District students. They are currently accepting children ages 8 to18 years old.

Stay up to date by subscribing to UNC’s text messages by texting UNCYOUTH to 31996. (Standard messaging rates apply, see carrier for details.) 

By Higher Heights

Dear 2016 Presidential Candidates:

In an effort to hear what issues Black women are most concerned with this election cycle, Higher Heights asked Black women across the country (at events and online), what is the most important issue facing Black women and their families. 49 percent stated that economic security was the most pressing issue.  

No wonder this was the top response, considering Black women are paid just 60 cents to every dollar paid to a White man.  In addition to economic security, the other top issues included Education Equity (19%), Police Violence (16%) and High Quality Affordable Housing (14%).

According to 2013 U.S. Census data, 71 percent of Black women are in the labor force (69 percent for women overall).  Black women are more likely than women nationally to work in the lowest-paying occupations (like service, health care support, and education) and less likely to work in the higher-paying engineering and tech fields or managerial positions.  The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the percentage of Black women who are full-time minimum-wage workers is higher than that of any other racial group.  

The late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan once said, “What the people want is very simple – they want an America as good as its promise.”  Higher Heights is asking you, as a candidate for the highest executive job in the country, to pledge to make good on this promise by putting forward a comprehensive economic security strategy and plan at the top of your list of priority issues on which you will focus in the first 100 days of your administration, should you be elected.

Higher Heights is also asking Black women across the country to raise their voices on this issue at the ballot box this November.  We know that when you fire up a Black woman she does not go to the polls alone, she brings her house, her block, her church, her sorority, and her water cooler. For us, this election is about harnessing the power of Black women’s votes to ensure that you, as candidates feel compelled to address and support building economically stable communities and the other issues of the greatest importance to Black women.

It really isn’t that complicated.  Black women are voting this November and economic security is the No. 1 issue they care about. The next President of the United States will take office at a time of great opportunity for our nation. In the final weeks of the election, we encourage you to listen and devise a course of action to address the concerns of this very important constituency.  

Water is essential to our everyday lives so it’s important to conserve our water supplies. Cutting water use outside is really important. If each of us changed our water-use habits even a little, we could save billions of gallons of water. Here’s a few ways you can help:

• Use a broom instead of a hose to clean driveways and sidewalks and save up to 150 gallons each time.
• Check and repair promptly your sprinkler system for leaks, oversprays and broken sprinkler heads to save up to 500 gallons per month.
• Water your plants in the evening or early in the morning to reduce evaporation and to save up to 25 gallons each time.
• Install a smart sprinkler controller that adjusts watering based on weather, soil type, amount of shade and plant type to save up to 40 gallons per day.

Be a team player. Follow your local water agency’s suggested watering days to save up to 840 gallons per week.

Metropolitan Water District’s conservation website, bewaterwise.com, offers additional tips on how to reduce indoor and outdoor water use. Love Water. Save Water.